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4  4®alifortxia  ^ 


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ILur  cr  ILencbris  . 


't':-Ulj.J>):y, 


Cglaus   J>^prcckelg  IfTund 


a/^^.-U"^^. 


''MAKERS   OF  AMERICA" 


THE 


LIFE    AND    TIMES 


OF 


BISHOP   WHITE 


BY  ' 


JULIUS   H.   WARD 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,   MEAD   AND   COMPANY 

1892 


EX  6-1 1  s 


Copyright,  1892, 
By  Dodd,  Mead  and  Company. 


All  rights  reserved. 


SPRECKFLS 


©Inibtrsttg  Pitss: 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


■'  TO 

JOHN   WILLIAMS, 

Presidhig  Bishop  tJi  the  Chair  of  Seabury, 

OF 

THE   PATRIARCH  OF  THE  AMERICAN   CHURCH 
IS  DEDICATED 

BY   ONE   OF    HIS    SPIRITUAL    SONS. 


101850 


PREFACE. 


The  career  of  Bishop  White  involves  the 
history  of  the  first  half  century  of  the  American 
Episcopal  Church.  He  was  its  first  Bishop 
in  the  English  line,  and  to  him  for  fifty  years 
fell  the  duty  of  guiding  its  growth  and  presiding 
over  its  councils.  When  he  died  in  1836,  he 
was  so  well  known  that  it  was  not  thought 
necessary  to  write  a  biography  in  detail,  and 
Dr.  Wilson's  Memoir  is  the  only  attempt  that 
has  been  made  to  set  forth  his  individual  career. 
Bishop  Perry  has  rendered  invaluable  service  in 
gathering  up  and  putting  into  print  the  docu- 
mentary ecclesiastical  history  of  the  period  ;  but, 
so  far  as  I  know,  this  is  the  first  attempt  that  has 
been  made  to  give  a  personal  portrait  of  this 
great  Church  leader,  and  to  show  what  part  he 
had  in  the  civil  and  religious  life  of  the  times 
in  which  he  lived. 

Bishop  White  was  not  a  voluminous  letter- 
writer,  and  most  of  his  contemporaries  passed 
away  without  putting  on  paper  their  impressions 
of  him,  so  that  the  painting  of  his  portrait  has 


11  PREFACE. 

not  been  an  easy  task.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
excellent  memory  of  his  great-granddaughter, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  White  Reed,  the  widow  of  the 
lamented  Prof.  Henry  Reed,  and  for  the  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  the  Bishop's  life  and  times 
possessed  by  his  great-grandson,  Mr.  Thomas 
H.  Montgomery,  this  work  would  have  greatly 
lacked  in  such  colour  and  in  such  accuracy  of 
detail  as  it  has.  The  materials  have  been  gath- 
ered from  free  access  to  Bishop  White's  manu- 
scripts, from  Dr.  Bird  Wilson's  "  Memoir,"  from 
his  own  very  full  "  Memoirs  of  the  Church,"  and 
from  the  biographies  of  his  later  contemporaries. 

There  are  three  notable  portraits  of  Bishop 
White,  —  the  one  by  Gilbert  Stuart,  painted  when 
he  was  first  consecrated  to  the  Episcopate;  the 
one  which  has  been  engraved  by  John  Sartain, 
and  represents  him  as  the  Chaplain  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress ;  and  the  one  made  by  Inman 
in  his  extreme  old  age,  which  has  been  chosen 
for  reproduction,  because  it  best  presents  him 
in  his  official  character. 

J.  H.  W. 

Brookline,  Mass. 

Sept.  2,  1892. 


CONTENTS. 


-♦- 


Chapter  Page 

Introduction  by  Bishop  Potter v 

I.     Early  Life ii 

II.     In  Holy  Orders 25 

III.  Organizing  the  American  Church      ....  37 

IV.  An  Independent  Church  in  America.     ...  57 
V.     Philadelphia  a  Century  Ago 69 

VI.     Bishop  White  as  a  Man ^^ 

VII.     The  Day  of  Small  Beginnings 90 

VIII.     Inspiring  Younger  Men loi 

IX.     Working  to  Larger  Ends 118 

X.     The  Rise  of  Party  Spirit 126 

XI.     Reminiscences 135 

XII.     Theologian  and  Author 153 

XIII.  The  Last  Years 164 

XIV.  A  Half  Century  of  Church  Life 180 

Appendix , 193 

Index 197 


INTRODUCTION. 


Next  in  interest  to  the  story  of  beginnings  is  the 
story  of  transplantations.  We  turn  with  inexhaustible 
curiosity  to  see  how  it  was  that  a  small  people  became 
great,  —  that  a  few  wise  and  courageous  souls  led  the 
way  in  lifting  a  nation  out  of  ignorance  and  barbarism 
up  to  the  high  places  of  the  world,  out  of  bondage 
and  poverty  up  to  wealth  and  power.  And  the  same 
story  only  grows  more  interesting  when  it  takes  on 
that  other  form  in  which  a  nation  or  a  race  illustrates 
its  out-populating  power  in  colonization.  Indeed,  in 
some  aspects  of  it,  this  study  is  more  interesting  than 
the  other;  for  however  much  or  little  one  may  hold 
with  Buckle  as  to  the  modifying,  if  not  formative, 
influences  upon  nations  of  climate,  soil,  and  the  other 
characteristics  of  environment,  it  can  never  cease  to 
be  interesting  to  note  how  far  race-characteristics, 
and,  above  all,  great  moral  and  spiritual  ideas,  have 
survived  exportation,  and  what  inherent  force  they 
have  revealed  to  illustrate  themselves  —  to  grow  and 
flourish  —  in  a  new  country. 

It  is  this  which  will  always  make  the  story  of  the 
English   colonization  of  America   of  pre-eminent   in- 


VI  IN  TROD  UC  TION. 

terest.  There  are  few  peoples  whose  insular  position 
and  traditions  have  made  their  distinctive  traits  more 
marked  or  characteristic.  Indeed,  there  is  no  paral- 
lel in  history  to  the  sturdy  dominance  of  those  traits, 
or  the  cool  and  resolute  indifference,  whether  to  ridi- 
cule or  resistance,  with  which  the  Englishman  has 
not  only  transported  himself  but  everything,  even  to 
his  beer  and  his  bath-tub,  to  the  remotest  regions 
and  the  most  inhospitable  climes.  In  these  he 
has  still  maintained  his  undimmed  attachment  to 
his  fatherland,  and  his  persistent  maintenance  of  its 
speech  and  customs.  Those  of  other  lineage  emi- 
grate, and  leave  their  language  and  their  customs 
more  or  less  largely  behind  them.  Even  Oriental 
peoples  let  go  their  most  cherished  usages.  But 
the  Englishman  compels  other  nations  to  speak 
his  tongue,  to  learn  his  ways,  and  so,  at  any  rate, 
to  respect  his    race-attachments. 

Colonization  has  illustrated  this  fact,  both  by  what 
it  has  perpetuated  and  by  what  it  has  modified.  And 
this  is  the  significance  of  the  English  transplanta- 
tion to  these  shores.  In  one  aspect  of  it,  it  was  a 
revolt ;  in  another,  it  was  a  reproduction  of  the  best 
life  of  a  great  nation  in  what  we  who  are  Americans 
believe  to  have  been  nobler  and  larger  forms.  The 
Puritan  recoil  against  ecclesiastical  intolerance  did 
not  indeed  express  this  in  form,  but  it  included  it  in 
fact;  for  where  it  pressed  for  freedom  in  one  direc- 
tion, it  unconsciously  affirmed  the  righteousness  of 
that  freedom  in  others.  If  it  be  said  that  the  note  of 
religious  tolerance  was   not  expressed  in  the  Puritan 


INTRODUCTION.  Vll 

settlement,  it  must  also  be  said  that  the  germ  of  it 
was  present  in  the  lines  which  determined  that  set- 
tlement. And  so  with  all  the  rest.  The  Puritan  ideas 
of  civil  government,  of  the  family,  of  personal  rights, 
were  not  ours ;  but  they  were  the  soil  out  of  which, 
by  no  violent  transition,  these  latter  have  come. 

It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  they  would  have 
come  so  peacefully  and  so  happily  if  it  had  not  been 
for  that  providential  ordering  which,  in  grave  emer- 
gencies, whether  in  Church  or  State,  produced  the 
men  to  meet  them.  It  is  impossible  to  remember  the 
story  of  our  first  days,  whether  in  the  Colonies  or 
in  the  Republic,  without  recognizing  the  deep  and 
lasting  influence  for  good  of  a  few  strong  and  wise 
men. 

Of  one  of  these  this  volume,  tells  the  story.  It  was 
the  happy  fortune,  as  men  sometimes  account  such 
things,  of  the  Church  of  which  he  became  the  Presid- 
ing Bishop,  to  possess  in  William  White  one  with  a 
singular  adaptedness  for  a  difficult  and  delicate  task. 
An  English  subject  by  birth,  and  an  American  citizen 
by  deliberate  choice  and  adoption,  he  belonged  to 
two  hemispheres,  and  included  in  his  beautiful  and 
gracious  personality  the  best  traits  of  both.  An  Eng- 
lish Churchman  by  baptism  and  inheritance,  when  the 
time  came  to  be  an  American  Churchman,  he  adjusted 
himself  to  his  new  relations  without  violence  or  in- 
consistency;  and  in  recognizing  his  obhgations  to 
his  country,  cast  no  scorn  upon  the  Anglican  mother- 
hood from  which,  both  in  Church  and  State,  he  had 
sprung. 


viii  introduction: 

It  was  the  union  of  these  two  which  made  the 
former  especially  odious  to  a  vast  majority  of  his 
American  fellow-citizens.  That  they  had  grounds  for 
their  dislike  of  an  Established  Church,  and  their  ap- 
prehension as  to  its  possible  encroachment  upon  their 
personal  liberties,  can  scarcely  be  denied ;  and  yet 
when  they  proposed  to  dismiss  the  Church  in  which 
so  many  of  them  had  been  nurtured  out  of  the  hori- 
zon of  their  interest  or  loyal  affection,  because  of 
their  quarrel  with  the  State,  they  were  on  the  eve 
of  a  blunder  the  proportions  of  which,  in  view  of  the 
religious  possibilities  of  the  near  future  in  America, 
it  is  not  easy  to  estimate.  For  to-day  it  is  beginning 
to  be  seen,  as  it  never  has  been  seen  before,  that 
the  Church  of  which  William  White  was  a  bishop  has 
an  office  of  reconciliation  which  no  other  body  can 
even  pretend  to  attempt.  As  one  follows  the  Epis- 
copate of  White,  it  is  impossible  not  to  own  that 
his  clear  and  penetrating  vision  discerned  this  from 
afar.  And  to  lay  foundations  with  this  larger  outlook 
in  view,  was  his  great  and  unique  office. 

There  have  been  those  who  have  been  ready  to 
resent  his  prudence,  to  contemn  what  they  called  his 
excessive  timidity,  and  to  protest  against  what  seemed 
his  too  easy  temper  of  concession.  But  it  is  well  to 
remember  that  he  was  confronting  emergencies  which 
might  easily  have  had  another  issue  than  the  one  that, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  did  come  to  pass,  and  that  his 
position  was  one  of  pre-emment  difficulty  and  isola- 
tion. In  the  end  his  wisdom  and  moderation,  and 
his  equal  courage  and  humility,  made  a  way  for  him 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

through  all  difficulties ;  and  he  lived  to  see  a  great 
wish  brought  to  the  promise,  if  no  more,  of  a  noble 
conclusion.  Without  heat,  without  bitterness,  with  an 
inexhaustible  patience  and  an  often  marvellous  fore- 
sight, he  made  it  possible  for  the  Church  of  England 
to  live  again  in  her  Republican  daughter,  and  taught 
her  clergy  and  laity  how  to  be  loyal  to  their  glorious 
past,  and  yet  sensitive  and  responsive  to  their  more 
glorious   future. 

It  is  in  the  study  of  such  a  life  that  they  who  hope 
and  believe  great  things  for  the  Church  which  William 
White  helped  to  transplant  in  her  completeness  to 
American  shores,  will  find  a  clew  to  the  problems  that 
confront  her  to-day ;  and  it  is  therefore  a  timely 
office  which  the  author  of  this  volume  has  rendered 
to  his  fellow-Churchmen  and  his  fellow-countrymen 
in  placing  it  within  their  reach. 


HENRY    C.    POTTER. 


Diocesan  House,  New  York. 

St.  Bartholomew's  Day,  1892. 


^  OF  THE     '^ 


.4i-'f'0?<-^i\K. 


BISHOP    WHITE. 


CHAPTER    I. 


EARLY    LIFE. 


The  White  family,  like  the  Washington  family,  had 
the  distinction  of  high  character  and  excellent  social 
rank.  Both  families  had  an  eminent,  if  not  distin- 
guished, English  ancestry,  and  it  is  as  important  in  the 
one  case  as  in  the  other  that  -the  two  men,  one  of 
whom  is  rightly  called  the  "  Father  of  his  country," 
and  the  other  the  Patriarch  of  the  American  Episcopal 
Church,  should  be  traced  to  some  extent  in  their  English 
connections  in  order  to  give  weight  to  their  position  in 
the  American  colonies  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania. 
The  English  history  of  the  family  can  be  traced  back 
through  a  period  of  more  than  three  hundred  years. 
The  father  of  Bishop  White  came  to  this  country  in 
1 72 1  as  a  boy  to  seek  his  fortune.  He  was  the  youngest 
son  and  the  only  member  of  his  family  who  made  his 
home  in  the  new  world.  He  kept  up  his  intercourse 
by  frequent  letters  with  his  three  sisters,  who  shared 
warmly  in  their  brother's  ideas  of  liberty  across  the 
Atlantic.  They  were  themselves  Jacobite  gentlewomen. 
The  portraits  of  their  parents,  painted  by  Sir  Godfrey 


12  BISHOP    WHITE. 

Kneller,  were  sent  to  their  brother  in  Philadelphia  in 
1776,  and  are  still  in  the  custody  of  members  of  Bishop 
White's  family.  They  are  remarkable  pictures.  Mr. 
William  White  is  dressed  in  the  style  of  a  gentleman  of 
the  Non- Jurying  period  in  English  history,  and  Eliza- 
beth Leigh,  who  was  apparently  much  younger  than 
himself,  is  represented  as  in  the  prime  of  life.  It  is 
the  portrait  of  a  woman  of  energy  and  nerve,  and 
Bishop  White  records  that  she  had  a  great  deal  to  do  in 
developing  the  character  of  his  own  father  when  he  was 
a  mere  lad  in  his  English  home.  She  was  left  a  widow 
at  an  early  age  and  remained  such  until  her  death  in 
1742,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six. 

Thomas  White  was  only  sixteen  years  old  when  he 
arrived  in  Maryland  with  a  hundred  guineas  in  his 
pocket.  His  father  had  been  a  dissipated  man  and  had 
died  early.  He  left  his  wife  and  six  children,  of  whom 
Thomas  was  the  youngest,  in  straitened  circumstances. 
Young  White  became  an  apprentice  to  the  clerk  of  the 
county  of  Baltimore,  and  at  the  end  of  his  apprentice- 
ship was  appointed  his  deputy.  He  practically  edu- 
cated himself  in  the  law,  and  was  successful  in  his 
profession.  He  was  frugal  in  his  habits,  and  put  all 
his  spare  money  into  lands  which  had  not  been  taken 
up  from  the  proprietary  office.  In  addition  to  this,  he 
was  made  a  colonel  of  the  county  militia  and  appointed 
to  the  office  of  surveyor  of  the  district.  He  speedily 
rose  to  a  position  of  influence,  and  at  the  age  of  forty- 
two  removed  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  married  two 
years  later  as  his  second  wife  the  widow  of  a  Mr.  New- 
man, who  was  of  Quaker  ancestry,  but  had  always  been 


EARLY  LIFE.  13 

a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  whose  family 
had  been  all  along  connected  with  it.  Concerning  his 
father,  who  died  in  September,  1779,  in  his  seventy- 
fifth  year.  Bishop  White  wrote  as  follows  :  — 

"  My  father  left  the  world  with  the  reputation  of  unsul- 
Hed  integrity  through  life;  and  I  think  I  may  say  that  he 
possessed  a  remarkably  correct  judgment  of  men  and  things. 
In  his  domestic  character  he  was  indulgent  and  exemplary. 
During  the  last  twenty-two  years  of  his  life,  he  was  so  far 
a  cripple,  in  consequence  of  a  fall  from  a  carriage,  as  to 
walk  on  two  canes  with  handles.  This  kept  him  out  of  all 
society  except  such  as  could  be  had  at  his  own  hos- 
pitable table  and  fireside  ;  and,  except  in  afternoons  [that] 
of  some  of  the  principal  gentlemen  of  the  city,  of  his  own 
age,  who  in  those  days  habitually  assembled  at  the  public 
coffee-house  for  society  merely."  ^ 

His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Esther  Hewlings. 
She  was  a  daughter  and  grand-daughter  of  wardens 
of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Burlington,  the  latter  leaving  the 
Society  of  Friends  in  the  Keithian  controversy.  They 
were  early  settlers  of  West  Jersey,  under  the  purchase 
made  by  William  Penn  before  the  settlement  of  Penn- 
sylvania. She  had  two  children  by  this  second  mar- 
riage, William  White  and  his  sister  Mary,  who  was  one 
year  younger  than  himself,  and  who  became  the  wife 
of  Robert  Morris,  the  "  financier  of  the  Revolution." 
His  mother  died  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  1790,  in 
her  seventy-first  year.  Her  son  in  a  letter  to  Bishop 
Hobart  says :  "  My  mother,  if  I  am  not  misled  by 
partiality,   possessed   an  excellent  understanding,  with 

1  MS.  Autobiography  addressed  to  Bishop  Hobart. 


14  BISHOP   WHITE. 

sincere  but  unostentatious  piety."  In  further  mention 
of  her,  he  makes  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  early 
impression  made  by  her  religious  instructions  upon  his 
young  mind. 

William  White,  who  was  to  be  in  his  early  prime  the 
first  bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  America,  in 
the  line  of  the  English  succession,  thus  writes  of  his 
birth  and  of  his  earliest  years  :  — 

"  It  depends  on  a  few  hours  whether  I  should  be  con- 
sidered born  in  1747  or  1748;  being  a  man  of  Old  Style, 
which  began  the  year  on  the  25th  of  March,  and  I  was 
born  on  the  24th ;  so  that  the  change  of  style  brought  my 
birthday  to  the  4th  of  April.  At  the  age  of  seven,  I  was 
transferred  from  the  school  of  a  mistress  to  the  Eng-lish 
school  of  the  newly  erected  College  of  Philadelphia,  of 
which  my  father  was  a  trustee,  having  been  so  from  the 
beginning  of  the  institution,  under  the  name  of  an  acad- 
emy. The  master  of  the  school  was  Mr.  Ebenezer  Kin- 
nersley,  who  often  appears  in  the  early  works  of  Dr. 
Franklin  as  a  co-operator  with  him  in  his  electrical  experi- 
ments. At  about  the  age  of  ten  years  I  went  into  the  Latin 
school,  under  the  mastership  of  Mr.  Paul  Jackson,  a  man 
considered  as  possessed  of  a  fine  genius  and  of  classical 
attainments.  Not  long  after  my  entrance  into  the  school, 
he  left  it.  This  proved  a  misfortue  to  me ;  it  being  found 
convenient  to  his  successor,  Mr.  John  Beveridge,a  thorough 
grammarian,  with  httle  else  to  recommend  him,  to  reduce 
the  number  of  his  classes.  Inconsequence,  I  was  elevated 
to  the  one  above  us,  passing  from  the  beginning  of  an  easy 
book  to  the  latter  part  of  a  difficult  one  to  boys  of  our 
standing.  I  record  the  incident  for  the  purpose  of  censur- 
ing this  and  every  similar  expedient  for  the  hastening  of 
boys  through  grammar  schools,  which  is  frequent.     At  the 


EARLY  LIFE.  1 5 

age  of  thirteen,  our  class  being  examined  for  college  by  the 
Provost  and  the  Vice-Provost,  although  three  were  rejected, 
I  was  not  one  of  them.  Among  the  many  incidents  recol- 
lected by  me  of  the  sound  discretion  of  my  father  there  is 
his  putting  of  his  prohibition  on  my  then  entering  of  col- 
lege. It  was  humiliating  at  the  time,  although  softened 
by  the  permission,  obtained  at  his  request,  that  I  should  be 
with  the  now  Head  Class  in  the  Latin  School,  in  one  part 
of  the  day  only;  the  other  part  to  be  spent  in  the  school 
in  which  arithmetic  was  taught,  and  in  which  usually  one 
hour  of  the  day  only  was  spent  by  each  class  in  its  last 
year  in  the  Latin  school.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  post- 
ponement, I  should  not  have  gone  through  college,  as  I 
trust  I  did,  with  reputation.  There  have  since  occurred 
frequent  occasions  of  comparing  the  conduct  of  my  father 
with  that  of  others,  much  to  their  disadvantasre.  I  was 
three  years  in  college,  my  pupilage  ending  on  my  birthday 
in  1765,  — which  was  the  last  day  of  examinations,  although 
a  month  before  the  commencement ! ''  ^ 

He  was  graduated  just  as  he  had  completed  his 
seventeenth  year. 

Dr.  William  Smith,  who  was  Provost  of  the  College 
when  young  White  entered  the  lowest  room  of  its 
academy  and  when  he  left  it  at  graduation,  was  a  promi- 
nent man  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  associated  with 
him  as  a  trustee  of  the  College  from  the  year  1774.  At 
a  later  time,  when  he  had  been  elected  by  the  conven- 
tion of  Maryland  for  the  Episcopate  of  that  State,  Mr. 
White,  who  was  then  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania,  refused 
to  recommend  him  to  the  General  Convention  for  this 
high  office,  and  he  adds  :   "  To  me  his  failure  was  prin- 

1  MS.  Autobiography. 


1 6  BISHOP    WHITE. 

cipally  owing.  My  reasons  are  not  detailed,  partly 
because  there  has  been  no  reproach  cast  on  me  on  that 
account,  and  partly  because,  in  our  frequent  collisions, 
I  ought  not  to  claim  the  commendation  of  an  impartial 
narrator.  During  his  subsequent  years  we  were  on  very 
amicable  terms."  He  evidently  did  not  think  that 
Dr.  Smith  was  fitted  in  temperament  and  spirit  for  the 
Episcopal  office,  and  it  was  characteristic  of  him  that 
he  was  always  entirely  independent  and  honest  in  reach- 
ing his  decision  concerning  actions  in  which  he  had  to 
take  responsibility.  Dr.  Smith  was  one  of  the  leaders 
in  the  early  organization  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
his  failure  to  enter  the  Episcopate  did  not  prevent  his 
rendering  efficient  service  in  those  early  days. 

His  early  inclination  toward  the  ministry  is  illus- 
trated by  a  story  told  by  a  lady  a  year  and  a  half  older 
than  he  was,  who  was  his  intimate  playmate  when  they 
were  both  children.  She  used  to  say  when  she  was 
herself  advanced  in  life  :  — 

"  Billy  White  was  born  a  bishop.  I  never  could  per- 
suade him  to  play  anything  but  church.  He  would  tie  his 
own  or  my  apron  around  his  neck  for  a  gown  and  stand 
before  a  low  chair  which  he  called  his  pulpit;  I,  seated  be- 
fore him  on  a  little  bench,  was  the  congregation,  and  he 
always  preached  to  me  about  being  good.  One  day  I  heard 
him  crying,  and  saw  the  nurse  running  into  the  street,  call- 
ing to  him  to  come  back  and  be  dressed.  He  refused,  say- 
ing, '  I  do  not  want  to  go  to  danchig-school,  and  I  won't 
be  dressed,  for  I  don't  think  it  is  good  to  learn  to  dance.' 
And  that  was  the  only  time  I  ever  knew  Billy  White  to  be 
a  naughty  boy."  When  this  lady  in  his  later  life  repeated 
these  remmiscences  of  his  childhood  to  the  Bishop,  they 


EARLY  LIFE,  17 

amused  him,  and  he  added  that  his  mother,  finding  him  so 
unwilling  to  learn  to  dance,  gave  it  up,  "though,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  I  am  by  no  means  opposed  to  others  learning,  if 
they  like  to  dance."  ^ 

His  own  account  of  himself  after  graduation  is  the 
best  statement  that  can  be  given  of  the  influence  which 
led  him  to  study  for  the  ministry  :  — 

"  My  leaving  of  the  College,  being  at  the  point  of  time 
when  the  choice  of  a  profession  ought  to  be  final,  there 
shall  be  noticed  the  circumstances  which  led  to  its  being 
in  favour  of  the  ministry.  It  may  be  recorded  with  truth, 
but  let  it  be  with  humility  and  with  sorrow  for  innumerable 
failures,  and  for  the  having  fallen  far  short  of  what  was 
due  to  the  advantages  of  early  years,  that  there  is  not  re- 
collected any  portion  of  my  life,  during  which  I  was  alto- 
gether regardless  of  the  obligations  of  religion,  or  neglectful 
of  the  duty  of  prayer.  But  in  about  the  middle  of  my  six- 
teenth year,  there  occurred  some  circumstances,  particularly 
the  decease  of  an  amiable  young  lady  of  my  own  age,  but  in 
whom  I  had  not  felt  any  further  interest  than  as  an  acquaint- 
ance of  my  sister.  This  event  gave  to  my  mind  a  tendency  to 
religious  exercises  and  inquiries,  which  were  also  promoted 
by  its  being  understood  that  a  visit  was  to  be  expected  from 
the  Rev.  George  Whitefield.  His  former  visits  had  been 
principally  before  my  birth  ;  and  the  last  of  them  had  been 
when  I  was  too  young  to  have  retained  the  recollection  of 
his  person.  His  coming  at  this  time  caused  religion  to  be 
more  than  commonly  a  subject  of  conversation,  and  this 
added  to  the  existing  tendency  of  my  mind.  I  heard  him 
with  great  delight  in  his  wonderful  elocution,  although  in- 
formed that  it  was  greatly  impaired  by  the  state  of  his 
health,  which  had  evidently  affected  his  throat  and  had 

1  Dr.  Bird  Wilson's  Memoir,  p.  21. 
2 


1 8  BISHOP   WHITE. 

swelled  his  person,  reported  to  have  been  naturally  slender. 
Under  this  disadvantage,  his  force  of  emphasis  and  the 
melodies  of  his  tones  and  cadences  exceeded  what  I  have 
ever  witnessed  in  any  other  person."  ^ 

Again  he  says  :  — 

"Even  before  my  graduation,  and  especially  after  it,  the 
expectation  of  my  being  for  the  ministry  had  drawn  to  me 
the  kind  attentions  of  the  clergy,  particularly  of  Dr.  Peters 
and  Mr.  Duch6,  the  rector  and  one  of  the  assistant  minis- 
ters of  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's,  to  the  former  of 
which  our  family  belonged.  Although  I  shall  always  re- 
member those  two  gentlemen  with  respect  and  affection, 
on  account  of  their  merits  and  their  kindness  to  me,  yet 
there  was  in  each  of  them  a  singularity  of  religious  charac- 
ter which  lessened  the  profit  of  an  intercourse  with  them. 
Dr.  Peters  was  a  native  of  England,  and  had  come  to 
this  country  nearly  forty  years  before  the  time  now  spoken 
of.  He  was  then  a  young  clergyman,  of  a  respectable  family 
in  Liverpool,  of  an  excellent  education,  and  of  polished  man- 
ners. It  was  said  that  his  acquaintance  had  been  culti- 
vated by  the  genteel  families  of  the  city,  but  that,  being 
no  favourite  with  the  then  rector  of  Christ  Church,  the  Rev. 
Archibald  Cummings,  he  accepted  from  the  Proprietary 
Government  the  secretaryship  of  the  land  office,  which  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  considerable  fortune.  He  was  also  the 
secretary  of  a  succession  of  governors,  and  continued  to 
be  of  the  governor's  council  until  his  decease.  At  an  age 
turned  of  sixty,  he  gave  up  his  lucrative  offices  and  became 
more  serious  in  rehgious  concerns  than  at  any  former 
period  of  his  life,  although  his  morals  had  been  correct, 
his  attendance  on  public  worship  constant  and  solemn,  and 
his  preaching  occasional.     Soon  after,  the  rectorship  of  the 

1  MS.  Autobiography. 


EARLY  LIFE.  19 

cliurch  becoming  vacant,  by  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Tenney,  the  successor  of  Mr.  Cummings,  Mr.  Peters  was 
chosen  to  it.  The  singularity  alluded  to  was  his  adopting  of 
the  notions  of  Jacob  Behmen  and  William  Law,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  his  sermons  were  not  always  understood. 
In  social  discourse  he  could  be  exceedmgly  entertaining  on 
an  ordinary  and  on  any  Hterary  subject,  especially  if  it  re- 
garded classical  or  historical  learning.  Yet,  from  the  mo- 
ment of  turning  the  conversation  to  religion,  he  was  in  the 
clouds. 

"  Mr.   Duch^  was  of  a  respectable  family  in  this  city 
[Philadelphia].     He  was  in  the  first-class  of  graduates  of 
our  College,  and  having  finished  his  studies  in  it  with  repu- 
tation, he  spent  some  time  in  the  English  University  of 
Cambridge.     A  remarkably  fine  voice  and  graceful  action 
helped  to  render  him  very  popular  as  a  preacher.    His  dis- 
position also  was  amiable.     The  greatest  infirmity  attend- 
ing him  was  a  tendency  to  change  in  religious  sentiment. 
A  few  years  after  his  ministerial  Settlement,  he  took  to  the 
mysticism  of  Jacob  Behmen  and  William  Law.     From  this 
he  became  detached  for  a  time,  and  his  preaching,  which 
was  more  zealous  than  either  before  or  after,  seemed  to  me 
to  border  on  Calvinism,  although,  probably,  he  was  not 
aware  of   or  designed   it.     In  this   interval  my  personal 
knowledge  with  him  began,  and,  having  one  day  asked  of 
him  the  loan  of  Law's  works,  then  much  talked  of,  I  re- 
ceived a  refusal,  and  the  reason  given  being  the  danger 
he  had  formerly  been  in  from  the  reading  of  those  books. 
He  relapsed,  however,  to  the  theory  of  the  Mystics,  and 
continued  in  it  until  the  troubles  [arose]  which  drove  him 
from  his  native  country.     In  England,  he  became  a  con- 
vert to  the  opinions  of  Baron   Swedenborg,  and  in  these 
he  continued  until  his  decease.  ...  In  recollecting  the 
pleasure  taken  in  his  conversation,  I  think  myself  singu- 
larly happy  in  not  having  been  drawn  by  it  from  what  then 


20  BISHOP    WHITE. 

and  ever  since   I  have  considered  as  correct  views  of  our 
holy  religion."  ^ 

No  better  account  of  his  life  while  under  the  pastoral 
charge  and  spiritual  direction  of  these  revered  clergymen 
can  be  found  than  that  which  he  has  himself  furnished 
in  the  short  autobiography  already  quoted  from  :  — 

"From  the  time  of  my  graduation  in  May,  1765,  to  that 
of  my  going  to  England,  October,  1 770,  I  employed  myself 
in  attention  to  sacred  and  other  literature,  perhaps  not 
without  some  profit.  Yet  that  portion  of  my  life  is  now 
looked  back  on  as  what  might  have  been  much  more  im- 
proved by  hterary  cultivation,  and  thus  have  prevented  the 
deficiencies  which  have  been  the  unavoidable  result  of  a 
multiplicity  of  concerns.  This  is  the  proper  place  of  re- 
cording the  benefit  received  in  conjunction  with  four  other 
youths  designed  for  the  ministry,  by  a  species  of  theologi- 
cal exercise,  instituted  on  the  proposal  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Smith,  the  Provost  of  the  College.  During  three  succes- 
sive seasons  and  within  the  space  of  a  few  months  of  each, 
on  Sunday  evenings,  these  exercises  were  performed  in  the 
hall  of  the  old  College,  then  not  much  less  in  size  than  either 
of  our  two  churches,  and  in  the  audience  of  numerous 
and  respectable  assemblies.  The  ground-work  of  what  we 
wrote  and  delivered  was  the  history  of  the  Bible.  On  each 
evening  two  of  our  company  delivered  their  compositions, 
previously  corrected  by  the  Provost,  who  afterwards  en- 
larged on  the  subject.  Although  this  was  far  from  being  a 
complete  course  of  ecclesiastical  study,  it  called  to  a  variety 
of  reading:  and  to  a  concentration  of  what  was  read.  There 
was  also  use  in  the  introduction  to  public  speaking.  The 
young  men  with  whom  I  was  associated  were  Thomas 
Coombe,  Thomas  Hopkinson,  brother  of  the  late  Judge 
Hopkinson,  John  Montgomery,  and  Joseph  Hutchins." 

1  MS.  Autobiography. 


EARLY  LIFE.  2i 

This  was  the  best  substitute  possible  for  a  theological 
training  at  that  time  in  the  British  colonies  of  North 
America. 

In  the  absence  of  a  bishop  for  the  American  colo- 
nies, all  candidates  for   the  Christian   ministry  in  this 
country  were  obliged  to  go  to  England  for  ordination. 
The   Bishop  of  London   had   nominal   jurisdiction  of 
the  American  clergy  and   parishes.     Dr.  Richard  Ter- 
rick  was  then   the   Bishop   of    London,   and  William 
White  embarked  for  England  in  October,  1770,  to  ob- 
tain orders  at  his  hands.     He  was  ordained  deacon  in 
the  following  December   Ember   season  in  the  Royal 
Chapel,  of  which  the  Bishop  of  London  was  dean.    He 
was  not  yet  old  enough  to  receive  priest's  orders,  and 
continued  about  a  year  and  a  half  in  England,  spend-  • 
ing  a  great  part  of  the  time  \yith  two  aunts,  the  sisters 
of  his  father,  until  he  should  reach  the  requisite  age. 
His  life  with  them  and  his  journeys  in  different  parts 
of  England  caused  the  time  to  pass  rapidly  and  delight- 
fully.    It  may  here   be   further  said  of  the   family  in 
England,  with  whom  his  father  had  kept  up  a  constant 
correspondence  since  he  came  to  this  country,  that  his 
grandfather  became  so  dissipated  that  he  left  his  wife 
and    six  children  without    property.      His  widow  was 
equal  to  the  emergency,  and  had  recourse  to  millinery 
for  subsistence,  and  brought  up  her  daughters  to  the 
same  business.     The  eldest  son  became  a  silk  mercer ; 
a  younger  son  went  out  to  the  East  Indies  and  soon 
died  there ;  the  youngest  of  the  family,  who  came  to 
America,  was  the   father  of  Bishop  White.     The  three 
sisters,  after  losing  their  mother,  the  two  married  ones 


2  2  BISHOP   WHITE. 

having  in  the  mean  time  lost  their  husbands,  Hved  to- 
gether, chiefly  on  jointures  and  annuities,  purchased 
by  their  profit  in  business,  in  a  genteel  competency  at 
Twickenham.  It  was  to  him  that  they  bequeathed  at 
death  their  entire  estate,  amounting  to  about  ;;^3,ooo 
sterling.  When  young  White  made  his  first  visit  to 
England,  one  of  the  sisters  had  just  passed  away.  Of 
the  others  he  writes  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  was  received  by  the  survivors,  Miss  White  and  Mrs. 
Weeks,  as  a  son.  They  were  excellent  women,  which  was 
also  the  character  of  their  deceased  sister.  The  eldest  in 
particular  [has  been]  ever  since  considered  by  me  as  one 
of  the  finest  women  I  ever  knew.  With  an  excellent  un- 
derstanding, exemplary  piety,  and  great  dignity  of  manner, 
she  possessed  the  vivacity  of  youth  at  above  the  age  of 
seventy."! 

His  father  had  advised  him  to  be  cautious  on  polit- 
ical subjects,  especially  the  claims  of  Stuarts,  when 
among  his  English  relatives.     He  continues  :  — 

"After  a  while,  familiarity  banished  reserve  on  the  sub- 
ject of  politics,  when  I  learned  from  these  ladies  that  they 
had  been  educated  in  the  principles  of  Jacobitism,  but  had 
long  given  up  the  cause  as  desperate,  —  the  readier  on  ac- 
count of  their  respect  for  the  personal  character  of  the 
present  King.  I  did  not  fail  to  acknowledge  to  them  that 
both  their  brother  and  his  son,  altliough  neither  of  them 
had  ever  entered  zealously  into  political  party,  were  at- 
tached to  the  principles  of  the  British  Constitution,  as  con- 
firmed, not  introduced,  by  the  Rev^olution  of  1688." 

While  in  England  at  this  time  he  made  numerous 
journeys  to  different  parts,  visiting  Lancashire,  Liverpool, 

!  MS.  Autobiography. 


EARLY  LIFE.  23 

Derbyshire,  Oxford  and  its  Universities,  and  meeting  a 
large  number  of  the  men  then  eminent  in  the  Enghsh 
Church.  One  of  the  foremost  men  in  Uterature  whom 
he  found  at  the  University  was  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson. 
He  thus  writes  about  him  in  his  autobiography :  — 

"  My  introduction  to  him  was  a  letter  from  the  Rev. 
Jonathan  Odell,  formerly  missionary  at  Burlington.  The 
doctor  was  very  civil  to  me.  I  visited  him  occasionally, 
and  I  know  some  who  would  be  tempted  to  envy  me  the 
felicity  of  having  one  morning  found  him  in  the  act  of  pre- 
paring his  dictionary  for  a  new  edition.  His  harshness  of 
manners  never  displayed  itself  to  me,  except  in  one  in- 
stance, when  he  told  me  that,  had  he  been  Prime  Minister 
during  the  then  recent  controversy  concerning  the  Stamp 
Act,  he  would  have  sent  a  ship  of  war  and  levelled  one  of 
our  principal  cities  to  the  ground.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
have  heard  from  him  sentiments  expressive  of  a  feehng 
heart,  and  convincing  me  that  he  would  not  have  done  as 
he  said.  Having  dined  in  company  with  him  in  Kensing- 
ton, at  the  house  of  Mr.  Elphinstone,  well-known  to  scholars 
of  that  day,  and  returning  in  the  stage-coach  with  the 
doctor,  I  mentioned  to  him  there  being  a  Philadelphia  edi- 
tion of  his  '  Prince  of  Abyssinia.'  He  expressed  a  wish 
to  see  it.  I  promised  to  send  him  a  copy  on  my  return  to 
Philadelphia,  and  did  so.  He  returned  a  polite  answer, 
which  is  printed  in  Mr.  Boswell's  second  edition  of  his 
'  Life  of  Dr.  Johnson.'  Mr.  Abercrombie's  admiration  of 
Dr.  Johnson  had  led  to  a  correspondence  with  Mr.  Bos- 
well,  to  whom  with  my  consent  the  letter  was  sent. 

"  This  reminds  me  of  another  literary  character,  a  friend 
of  Johnson,  Dr.  Goldsmith.  We  lodged  for  some  time 
near  to  one  another,  in  the  Brick  Court  of  the  Temple.  I 
had  it  intimated  to  him  by  an  acquaintance  of  both  that 
I  wished  for  the  pleasure  of  making  him  a  visit.    It  ensued, 


24  BISHOP   WHITE. 

and  in  our  conversation  it  took  a  turn  which  incited  in  me 
a  painful  sensation  from  the  circumstance  that  a  man  of 
such  a  genius  should  write  for  bread.  His  '  Deserted  Vil- 
lage '  came  under  notice,  and  some  remarks  were  made  by 
us  on  the  principle  of  it  —  the  decay  of  the  peasantry.  He 
said  that  were  he  to  write  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject,  he 
could  prove  the  point  incontrovertibly.  On  his  being  asked 
why  he  did  not  set  his  mind  to  this,  his  answer  was  :  '  It  is 
not  worth  my  while.  A  good  poem  will  bring  me  a  hun- 
dred guineas,  but  the  pamphlet  would  bring  me  nothing.' 
This  was  a  short  time  before  my  leaving  of  England,  and 
I  saw  the  doctor  no  more." 


IN  HOL  V  ORDERS.  25 


CHAPTER   II. 

IN    HOLY    ORDERS. 

In  June,  1772,  Mr.  White  was  ordained  a  priest  by 
Dr.  Terrick,  the  then  Bishop  of  London,  and  em- 
barked immediately  for  Philadelphia,  where  he  arrived, 
after  a  tedious  passage,  on  the  13th  of  September. 
There  were  then  only  two  parishes  identified  with  the 
Church  of  England  in  that  city,  though  several  con- 
gregations were  gathered  in  the  colony.  Christ  Church 
was  the  first  parish  in  Philadelphia,  and  it  was  twelve 
years  after  the  founding  of  the  city,  when  the  pop- 
ulation could  not  have  been  more  than  four  or  five 
thousand,  in  1695,  before  the  Churchmen  identified 
with  this  parish  undertook  to  build  an  edifice,  partly  of 
wood  and  partly  of  brick,  in  which  they  could  worship 
God  after  the  forms  of  the  Church  of  England.  St. 
Peter's  Church  was  established  half  a  century  later,  in 
1758,  at  the  request  of  a  number  of  the  leading  citi- 
zens of  Philadelphia,  because  another  place  of  worship 
was  much  wanted.  It  was  undertaken  by  the  direction 
of  the  vestry  of  Christ  Church,  and  was  simply  another 
church  in  that  parish.  In  1 765  a  charter  was  granted 
by  Governor  Penn  to  the  united  churches.  Mr.  White 
had  been  baptized  in  Christ  Church  in  his  infancy; 
he  had  attended  its  services  from  his  youth  until  he 


26  BISHOP  WHITE. 

went   to  England   to   receive   holy  orders ;  his  father 
had  been  identified  with  it  as  a  parishioner,  and  he  was 
the  bright  and  shining  light  of  the  company  of  people 
who  worshipped  there,  and  who  constituted  a  fair  pro- 
portion of  the  best  social  hfe  of  Philadelphia  at  that 
time.     It  was  hardly  a  month  after  his  return,  when  he 
and  a  young  man,   Mr.  Coombe,  who  had  made  the 
voyage  to  England  at  an  earlier  period  and  had  been  a 
London  curate,  were  elected  as  the  assistant  ministers 
in  these  two   churches.     The  rector,  Dr.  Peters,  had 
requested  that   Mr.  White  might  be  appointed  to  this 
position  while  he  was  yet  in  England,  and  it  is  a  signal 
instance  of  the  spirit  in  which  he  began  his  work  that 
he  recognized  the  limited  means  of  the  parish,  which 
were  barely  sufficient  to  provide  for  the  rector  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Duche,  who  had  charge  of  St.  Peter's,  and 
desired  that  what  might  be  specially  done  by  the  con- 
gregation for  him  might  be  paid  to  his  brother  assist- 
ant.    In  a  letter  to  Dr.   Peters,   he  said  :   ''  Whilst  I 
officiate  in  these  churches,  I  shall  always  be  satisfied 
with  what  they  can  afford  to  offer  me  from  their  regu- 
lar funds,  and  not  expect  to  receive  any  part  of  what 
may  be  raised  in  some  new  way."     He  received  a  sal- 
ary of  one  hundred  pounds  per  annum  from  the  rector, 
and  at  the  special  request  of  the  vestry  was  induced  to 
take  fifty  out  of  the  two  hundred  pounds  which  the 
congregation  had  raised  for  himself  and  Mr.  Coombe. 
From    this    time    onward   until    his    connection    with 
these  churches    ended  with    his    death    in    1836,   the 
question  of  salary  was  never  raised  by  him.    The  united 
churches  paid  him  what  they  felt  able  to.     Though  he 


IN  HOLY  ORDERS.  27 

lost  in  the  Revolutionary  war  at  least  ten  thousand 
pounds  from  the  paternal  estate  by  the  depreciation  of 
the  currency,  the  position  of  his  family  and  his  own 
subsequent  circumstances  were  such,  in  connection 
with  his  modest  w^ays  of  living,  that  he  was  able  to 
maintain  his  place  among  the  foremost  citizens  of  Phil- 
adelphia out  of  his  own  income.  This  incidentally 
had  much  to  do  with  his  comfort  and  success  at  a 
time  when  the  church  in  Pennsylvania  had  no  spare 
funds,  and  the  clergy  were  often  without  fixed  salaries 
and  without  the  means  of  subsistence.  Mr.  White,  as 
presbyter  and  bishop,  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be 
without  a  comfortable  support. 

In  February,  1 773,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Har- 
rison, to  whom  he  had  been  tenderly  attached  for  some 
time  before  his  voyage  to  England.  She  was  of  English 
descent,  and  her  father  had  been  for  some  time  the 
mayor  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  also  one  of  the  wardens 
of  Christ  Church  when  it  was  the  only  Episcopal  parish 
in  the  city.  With  this  lady  he  lived  in  uninterrupted 
harmony  until  her  death  on  the  13th  of  December, 
1797.  In  the  family  record  which  he  made  of  the 
births  of  his  children  this  date  is  followed  immediately 
by  the  words,  "  Mrs.  White  departed  this  life."  He 
always  spoke  of  her  as  Mrs.  White,  in  the  tenderest 
terms,  but  with  a  reserve  which  indicated  that  the 
affection  was  too  strong  and  the  sense  of  loss  too  deep 
to  be  treated  with  freedom. 

Concerning  his  home  at  this  period,  his  great-grand- 
son, in  the  "  Notes  of  the  White  Family,"  writes 
thus : — 


28  BISHOP   WHITE. 

"  The  early  part  of  the  married  life  of  Bishop  White 
was  passed  in  the  house  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Pine 
and  Front  Streets,  upon  the  site  of  which  now  stands  St. 
Peter's  House,  that  noble  estabhshment  of  St.  Peter's 
Church.  Some  months  before  his  marriage  he  had  been 
appointed  one  of  the  assistant  ministers  of  Christ  Church 
and  St.  Peter's,  —  and  as  junior  assistant  his  duties  may 
have  been  given  principally  to  St.  Peter's  Church,  —  whence 
the  reason  for  establishing  himself  in  its  near  vicinity.  In 
his  study  in  this  house  were  planned,  upon  the  close  of  the 
war,  all  the  measures  looking  to  a  union  of  the  clergy  and 
congregations  of  the  Commonwealth,  out  of  which  period 
came  the  federate  Union  of  the  churches  in  all  the  States 
forming  the  American  Church." 

His  ministry  was  without  notable  incident  until  the 
troubles  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies  led  to 
the  War  of  the  Revolution.  His  position  in  this  con- 
flict is  best  stated  in  his  autobiography  :  — 

"  Long  before  that  period  [the  Revolutionary  War],  I 
had  carefully  studied  the  English  history,  and  my  reading 
in  the  department  had  been  considerable.  The  principles 
which  I  had  adopted  are  those  which  enter  into  the  Con- 
stitution of  England  from  the  Saxon  times,  however  the 
fact  may  have  been  disguised,  and  were  confirmed  and  acted 
on  at  the  Revolution  in  1688.  The  late  measures  of  the 
English  government  contradicted  the  rights  which  the 
colonists  had  brought  with  them  to  the  wilds  of  America 
and  were,  until  then,  respected  by  the  mother  country.  The 
worst  state  of  dependent  provinces  has  been  that  which 
bound  them  to  a  country  itself  free.  .  .  .  Our  quarrel  was 
substantially  with  our  free  fellow-subjects  of  Great  Britain, 
and  we  never  objected  to  the  constitutional  prerogative 
of  the  Crown  until  it  threw  us  out  of  its  protection. 
This  it  did,  independently  on  other  measures,  by  what  was 


IN  HOLY  ORDERS.  29 

called  the  Prohibitory  Act  passed  in  November,  1775, 
authorizing  the  seizure  of  all  vessels  belonging  to  persons 
of  this  country,  whether  friends  or  foes.  The  Act  arrived 
about  the  time  of  the  publication  of  Paine's  '  Common 
Sense.'  Had  the  Act  been  contrived  by  some  person  in 
league  with  Paine,  in  order  to  give  effect  to  his  production, 
no  expedient  could  have  been  more  ingenious.  To  a  reader 
of  that  flimsy  work  at  the  present  day  the  confessed  effect  of 
it  at  the  time  is  a  matter  of  surprise.  Had  it  [been]  issued 
six  months  sooner,  it  would  have  excited  no  feeling  except 
that  of  resentment  against  the  author.  But  there  had 
come  a  crisis  which  the  foremost  leaders  of  American  re- 
sistance were  reluctant  to  realize  to  their  minds." 

In  a  subsequent  note  he  adds  :  — 

"  Even  in  regard  to  war,  there  is  a  fact  which  shows 
how  far  it  was  from  being  sought  for  or  anticipated  by  the 
American  people.  The  Congress  oi  1774  concluded  their 
address  to  them  with  the  advice  to  be  prepared  for  all 
events;  and  yet,  until  the  shedding  of  blood  at  Lexington 
in  April,  1775,  there  was  no  preparation  beyond  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  British  army  in  Boston.  The  secre- 
tary of  Congress,  Mr.  Charles  Thomson,  subsequently 
expressed  to  me  his  surprise  at  its  not  being  generally 
understood  that  the  Congress  perceived  the  probability  of 
what  came  to  pass,  and  were  of  opinion  that  it  should 
be  prepared  for,  by  being  provided  with  the  means  of 
resistance." 

Mr.  White  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  — 

"perhaps  had  the  issue  depended  upon  my  determina- 
tion, it  would  have  been  for  submission,  with  the  determined 
and  steady  continuance  of  the  rightful  claim.  But,  when 
my  countrymen  in  general  had  chosen  the  dreadful  measure 
of  forcible  resistance,  —  for  certainly  the  spirit  was  almost 


30  BISHOP   WHITE. 

universal  at  the  time  of  arming  —  it  was  the  dictate  of  con- 
science to  take  what  seemed  the  right  side.  When  matters 
were  verging  to  independence,  there  was  less  to  be  said  for 
dissent  from  the  voice  of  the  country  than  in  the  beginning." 

Mr.  White  took  no  extreme  position.  He  con- 
tinues :  — 

'  "  Although  possessed  of  these  sentiments,  I  never  beat 
the  ecclesiastical  drum.  My  two  brethren  in  the  assistant 
ministry  preached  animating  sermons,  approbatory  of  the 
war,  which  were  printed,  as  did  the  most  prominent  of  our 
clergy — Dr.  Smith.  Our  aged  rector  [Dr.  Peters],  in  con- 
sequence of  increasing  weakness,  was  retiring  from  the 
world.  Not  long  before  this  time  he  resigned  his  rector- 
ship, was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Duche,  and  soon  after 
died.  Being  invited  to  preach  before  a  battalion,  I  de- 
clined and  mentioned  to  the  colonel,  who  was  one  of  the 
warmest  spirits  of  the  day,  my  objections  to  the  making 
of  the  ministry  instrumental  to  the  war.  I  continued,  as 
did  all  of  us,  to  pray  for  the  King  until  Sunday  [inclu- 
sively] before  the  4th  of  July,  1776.  Within  a  short  time 
after,  I  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States, 
and  have  since  remained  faithful  to  it.  My  intentions 
were  upright,  and  most  seriously  weighed.  I  hope  that 
they  were  not  in  contrariety  to  my  duty." 

The  materials  are  scanty  for  details  of  the  life  of 
Mr.  White  at  this  period.  In  September,  1777,  he  re- 
tired with  his  family  to  the  house  of  his  brother-in- 
law,  Mr.  Aquila  Hall,  in  Maryland.  The  British  were 
then  advancing  upon  Philadelphia,  and  the  Continental 
Congress  had  fled  to  Yorktown.     Says  Mr.  White  :  — 

"  Just  before  breaking  up  they  had  chosen  me  their  chap- 
lain. They  chose  with  me  the  Rev.  Mr.  Duffield,  of  the 
Presbyterian  communion.    Nothing  could  have  induced  me 


IN  HOLY  ORDERS.  3 1 

to  accept  the  appointment,  at  such  a  time,  even  had  the 
emolument  been  an  object,  as  it  was  not,  but  the  deter- 
mination to  be  consistent  in  my  principles,  and  in  the  part 
taken.  Under  this  impression,  I  divided  my  time  between 
Congress  and  my  family,  which  the  double  chaplaincy 
permitted,  until  the  evacuation  of  the  city  in  the  June 
following." 

He  accepted  the  chaplainship  a  few  days  before  the 
capture  of  General  Burgoyne,  at  a  time  when  it  looked  - 
as  if  the  British  army  might  advance  southward  from 
the  frontier  of  New  York  and  sever  the  Eastern  States 
from  the  Southern.  Bishop  Kemper  gives  some  inter- 
esting facts  about  this  chaplainship,  which  are  best 
related  in  his  own  words  :  — 

"He  had  removed  with  his  family  to  Maryland;  and 
being  on  a  journey,  he  stopped  at -a  small  village  between 
Harford  county  and  Philadelphia,  at  which  he  was  met  by 
a  courier  from  Yorktown,  informing  him  of  his  being  ap- 
pointed by  Congress  their  chaplain,  and  requesting  his 
immediate  attendance.  He  thought  of  it  for  a  short  time ; 
it  was  in  one  of  the  gloomiest  periods  of  the  American 
affairs,  when  General  Burgoyne  was  marching  without  hav- 
ing yet  received  a  serious  check,  so  far  as  was  then  known, 
through  the  northern  parts  of  New  York  ;  and  after  his 
short  consideration,  instead  of  proceeding  on  his  journey, 
he  turned  his  horses'  heads,  travelled  immediately  to  York- 
town,  and  entered  on  the  duties  of  his  appointment."  ^ 

This  was  when  the  finances  for  carrying  on  the  war 
were  at  their  lowest  ebb,  and  when,  though  this  body 
soon  returned  to  Philadelphia,  it  was  alike  destitute 
of  funds  and  of  credit.     On  one  occasion,  going  into 

1  Dr.  Wilson's    Memoir,  p.   55. 


32  BISHOP   WHITE. 

the  chamber  of  Congress  to  perform  his  duty  as  chaplain, 
he  remarked  to  one  of  the  members  :  *'  You  have  been 
treating  yourselves,  I  perceive,  to  new  inkstands." 
"Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "and  private  credit  had  to  be 
pledged  for  the  payment."  At  another  time,  observing 
that  the  clerks  had  removed  from  their  usual  room  and 
inquiring  the  cause,  he  was  told  that  there  was  no 
wood  to  make  the  fire  there  nor  money  to  buy  it.  He 
continued  as  chaplain  until  Congress  was  removed  to 
New  York,  and  when,  after  the  adoption  of  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution,  the  government  was  again  estab- 
lished at  Philadelphia,  he  was  once  more  chosen  for 
this  service,  and  continued  to  be  so  chosen  at  each 
successive  session  by  the  Senate,  until  the  removal  of 
the  government  to  Washington  in  the  year  1801. 

Everywhere  it  was  difficult  to  maintain  services  in 
the  parishes  of  the  Church  of  England  during  the  war. 
While  Mr.  White  was  absent  from  Philadelphia,  his 
friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Duche,  had  become  so  obnoxious 
to  his  country  in  consequence  of  a  letter  written  by 
him  to  General  Washington,  that  he  had  gone  to  Eng- 
land. In  this  letter  he  entreated  him  to  use  his  in- 
fluence with  Congress  for  the  putting  an  end  to  the 
war,  and  in  the  event  of  their  refusing,  to  negotiate  at 
the  head  of  his  army.     Mr.  White  says  :  — 

"It  was  a  very  incorrect  measure,  but  induced  by  de- 
spair of  the  American  cause,  and  to  spare  the  effusion  of 
blood.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Duchd  must  have  been 
aware  that  his  having  officiated  as  chaplain  to  Congress, 
even  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  known  to 
his  superiors  in  England.  To  appease  in  that  quarter  was 
the  professed  object  of  his  voyage." 


/.V  HOLY  ORDERS.  ZZ 

When  the  Enghsh  army  entered  Philadelphia  in 
September,  1777,  after  officiating  at  Christ  Church,  and 
after  praying  for  the  King  in  the  service,  he  was  ar- 
rested at  the  door  of  the  church  and  conducted  to  jail, 
where  he  remained  but  one  night,  his  friends  in  the 
mean  time  making  known  his  change  of  sentiment.  Mr. 
White  cites  this  as  one  of  the  many  instances  where 
the  British  officers  violated  their  promise  of  protec- 
tion to  the  people  whom  they  invited  to  stay  in  their 
respective  homes,  and  who  were  made  to  suffer  on  ac- 
count of  their  submission  to  the  English  government. 
Writing  in  18 19  of  the  condition  of  the  American 
Church  at  this  time,  IMr.  White  says  :  — 

"  The  present  state  and  prospects  of  our  church  ex- 
hibit a  contrast  fruitful  of  satisfaction,  compared  with  the 
period  when  I  was  the  only  officiating  clerg}^man  of  our 
church  in  the  State.  Our  settled  t:lergy  of  the  province, 
exclusively  of  the  city,  had  been  never  more  than  six,  and 
these  were  supported  principally  by  stipends  from  Eng- 
land. During  the  Revolutionary  war  some  had  died,  and 
the  others  had  retired  to  England,  except  Dr.  Smith,  who 
remained  until  what  took  place  subsequently  in  the  Col- 
lege. He  then  removed  to  Maryland,  and  set  on  foot  his 
measures  for  the  founding  of  a  College  in  Chestertown, 
in  which  he  had  accepted  the  parish,  and  another  in 
Annapolis.  I  was  now  in  a  trying  situation,  in  the  paro- 
chial cure  of  the  churches  to  which  my  services  had  been 
and  have  been  ever  since  devoted.  The  difficulty  was  in 
regard  to  the  warm  spirits  of  Whigs  and  Tories,  as  they 
were  called.  With  the  latter  the  danger  was  the  absent- 
ing of  themselves  from  the  churches,  in  the  devotions  of 
which  the  new  allegiance  was  acknowledged.  That  some 
took  this  part  for  a  time  is  certain ;  but  it  is  remarkable 

3 


34  BISHOP   WHITE. 

that  of  these  there  were  scarcely  any  who  had  professed 
conscientious  scruples  against  resistance,  and  that  they 
were  chiefly  persons  who  had  engaged  in  it  without  calcu- 
lating the  consequences,  and  had  afterwards  inconsistently 
relinquished  it.  The  prejudice  wore  away  gradually. 
With  the  hot  Whigs  it  was  more  difficult  to  deal  because 
of  the  present  season  of  success,  and  because  they  who 
stayed  [in  the  city]  had  become  in  some  measure  iden- 
tified with  the  enemy,  whose  conduct  had  been  in  many 
instances  wantonly  oppressive,  although,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, with  very  little  discrimination  between  friends  and 
foes.  There  arose  great  danger  of  the  introduction  of  a 
political  creed  into  the  churches,  which  might  have  dis- 
tracted them  for  many  years.  But  the  heat  became  allayed 
by  some  judicious  men  on  the  same  side  in  politics,  who 
convinced  them  that,  instead  of  endeavouring  to  annul  the 
last  election  of  vestrymen,  it  would  be  best  to  let  all  things 
remain  quiet  until  the  next  Easter  [the  time  appointed 
by  charter  for  the  annual  election].  On  the  arrival  of  that 
period  the  changes  were  very  few,  and  consisted  chiefly  in 
restoring  members  who  had  been  left  out,  for  no  other 
reason  than  because,  being  out  of  the  lines,  they  could  not 
attend  to  the  duty.  The  vestry,  after  the  election  at  Easter, 
voted  the  rectorship  vacant.  This  was  not  unexpected, 
.but  [it]  placed  me  in  dehcate  circumstances,  on  account  of 
my  long  friendship  for  Mr.  Duchd,  whose  return,  consider- 
ing his  attainder  and  the  indignation  excited  by  the  afore- 
said letter,  was  at  present  out  of  question.  There  was 
seen  the  hazard  of  some  share  of  the  same  indignation, 
when  it  was  stated  in  the  acceptance  of  the  rectorship  that, 
if  ever  the  former  rector  should  return  to  this  country  by 
the  permission  of  the  civil  authority  and  with  the  wishes 
of  the  members  of  the  churches,  I  should  think  it  my  duty 
to  resign.  It  was  so  entered  on  the  minutes  at  my  desire. 
When  he  returned  in  1792,  his  engaging  in  the  ministerial 


IN  HOLY  ORDERS.  "        35 

duty  [on  account  of  a  slight  paralysis]  was  to  be  despaired 
of.     My  election  to  the  rectorship  was  unanimous." 

While  the  war  was  still  going  on,  it  was  impossible 
for  Mr.  Duche  to  return  to  America,  but  the  affection 
between  him  and  his  former  assistant  was  not  impaired 
by  their  political  differences.  When  he  returned  to 
Philadelphia  in  1792,  Bishop  White  entertained  him 
for  several  weeks  under  his  own  roof,  with  his  family. 
It  was  while  Mr.  Duch^  was  his  guest,  that  he  visited 
President  Washington,  who  treated  him  with  great 
courtesy.  The  only  further  incident  that  concerns  the 
life  of  Mr.  White  at  this  time  is  his  part  in  the  con- 
cerns of  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  of  which  he  had 
then  been  a  trustee  for  about  six  years.  A  contest  was 
in  progress  to  take  it  out  of  the  hands  of  Church- 
men, which  Mr.  White  could  not  consent  to.  Party 
spirit  was  then  at  a  great  height,  and  the  attack  upon  the 
College  was  the  result  of  it.  Its  charter  was  changed, 
and  the  institution  was  taken  out  of  the  hands  of 
Churchmen  and  received  the  name  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  when  Mr.  White  was  in  Maryland  at- 
tending the  funeral  of  his  father.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  place  Mr.  White  at  the  head  of  the  new  in- 
stitution as  Provost,  and  he  was  partially  inclined,  on 
the  side  of  his  literary  tastes,  to  encourage  this  effort, 
but  he  lost  the  position  by  one  vote.  The  injustice 
done  to  the  College  ^  gave  birth  to  the  Episcopal  Acad- 
emy, and  an  effort  was  made  to  restore  to  the  former 
trustees  of  the  College  their  chartered  rights  and  their 

1  He  was  its  treasurer  from  1775  to  1789. 


36  BISHOP   WHITE. 

estate  ;  *  but  the  bad  management  of  the  new  institu- 
tion prevented  it,  from  the  start,  from  being  what  it 
might  have  been,  and  forbade  the  hope  of  this  res- 
toration. One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  institution  in 
conferring  degrees  was  to  give  to  Mr.  White  the  honour 
of  the  doctorate  of  divinity  in  1782.  Dr.  Wliite's 
poUtical  opinions  were  maintained  during  this  critical 
period  with  moderation  and  calmness.  He  was  never 
willing  to  be  a  partisan,  and  he  held  that  the  members 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  should  conduct  their  eccle- 
siastical affairs  without  regard  to  their  differences  in 
political  opinions.  His  own  sentiments  were  favourable 
to  the  Federal  party,  and  he  was  not  slow  to  express 
them  or  to  use  his  vote  at  elections.  From  the  first 
he  was  opposed  to  the  introduction  of  religious  ideas 
into  politics. 

1  The  fight  was  not  so  much  against  Churchmen  as  such  as 
against  Dr.  Smith  and  his  friends  as  politicians.  It  has  been  the 
style  thus  to  becloud  the  controversy,  but  more  patient  investi- 
gation makes  the  motive  clear. 


ORGANIZING    THE  AMERICAN  CHURCH.     37 


CHAPTER   III. 

ORGANIZING   THE   AISIERICAN   CHURCH. 

In  his  letter  to  Bishop  Hobart,  Dr.  White  says  :  — 

"On  the  taking  of  place  of  the  peace  of  1783  a  new 
responsibility  was  induced  on  the  consciences  of  the  few  of 
us  remaining  of  the  old  stock  of  the  clergy.  Not  long  be- 
fore, despairing  of  a  speedy  acknowledgment  of  our  inde- 
pendence, although  there  was  not  likely  to  be  more  of  war, 
and  perceiving  our  ministry  gradually  approaching  to  an 
annihilation,  I  wrote  and  published  a  small  pamphlet  called 
'  The  Case  of  the  Episcopal  Churches  Considered.'  It  has 
been  faulted  from  inattention  to  the  precise  time  of  its 
being  issued." 

In  a  note  to  this  statement  he  adds  the  following  :  — 

"  In  agreement  with  the  sentiments  expressed  in  that 
pamphlet,  I  am  still  of  opinion  that  in  an  exigency  in  which 
a  duly  authorized  ministry  cannot  be  obtained,  the  para- 
mount duty  of  preaching  the  Gospel  and  the  worshipping 
of  God  on  the  terms  of  the  Christian  covenant  should  go 
on  in  the  best  manner  which  circumstances  permit.  In  re- 
gard to  the  Episcopacy,  I  think  that  it  should  be  sustained 
as  the  government  of  the  Church  from  the  time  of  the  Apos- 
tles, but  without  criminating  the  ministry  of  other  churches, 
as  is  the  course  taken  by  the  Church  of  England." 

This  pamphlet  was  published  and  advertised  on  the 
6th  of  August,  1782,  and  some  copies   had  been   dis- 


38  BISHOP    WHITE. 

tribute    a  few  days  before.    Within  forty- eight  hours  it 
was  announced  that  General  Carlton  had  made  the  first 
overture  to  General  Washington  looking   to  the  recog- 
nition of  our  Independence,  and  after  August  8th  the 
advertisement  was  withdrawn,  and  all  the  copies  already 
issued  recalled.     These  dates  are  necessary  to  explain 
why  Dr.  White  advocated  the  measures  set  forth  in  tliis 
pamphlet,  which  in  later  years  was  represented  as  his 
full  and  unlimited  opinion  of  ecclesiastical  authority. 
They  were  directed  only  toward  the  making  of  a  tem- 
porary organization  which  was  to  be  completed  as  soon 
as  an  opportunity  should  occur  to  obtain  the  Episcopal 
succession.    In  an  appendix  to  his  charge  to  the  Church 
in  1807  Bishop  White  expresses  his  mature  belief  "  that 
under  the  state  of  things  contemplated  some  such  ex- 
pedient as  that  proposed  must  have  been  resorted  to; 
although  had  the  proposal  been  delayed  a  little  longer, 
the  happy  change  of  prospects  would  have  prevented 
the  appearance  of  the  pamphlet,  unless  with  consider- 
able alterations."      It  was  written    from   an    intimate 
knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  American  Episcopal 
parishes  at  that  time.     Dr.  White   had  corresponded 
with  the  influential  friends  of  the  Church  in  the  several 
States,  with  the  few  who  were   then  left  of  the  eighty 
parochial  clergymen  who  were  residing,  when  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  began,  to  the  northward  and  to  the  east- 
ward of  Maryland,  and  with  those  then   remaining  in 
Maryland  and  in  Virginia,  and  had  found  that,  on  ac- 
count of  the  entire  absence  of   the  authority   of  the 
Episcopate   as  a  resident  influence    in  the  American 
colonies  from  the  beginning,  there  was  an  exceedingly 


ORGAXIZING    THE  AMERICAN  CHURCH.     39 

slight  sense  of  the  principles  of  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment in  the  minds  of  the  laity,  and  a  strong  feeling  of 
the  uncertainty  of  maintaining  the  Episcopal  orders  on 
the  part  of  the  clergy.  Dr.  White's  pamphlet  was 
written  in  view  of  these  facts,  and  when  peace  was  con- 
cluded in  January,  1 783,  there  was  no  longer  any  reason 
for  insisting  upon  the  provisional  organization  which 
he  had  urged. 

In  substance  the  general  principles  embraced  in  it 
were  these  :  The  Church  was  to  be  free  from  subjection 
to  any  spiritual  jurisdiction  connected  with  the  tem- 
poral authority  of  a  foreign  state.  Everything  was  to 
be  avoided  that  had  the  look  of  making  the  churches 
subservient  to  party,  or  of  uniting  their  members  on 
questions  of  a  civil  nature.  The  laity  as  well  as  the 
clergy  were  to  have  a  share  in  the  government  of  the 
Church.  The  power  of  electing  the  superior  order  of 
ministers  was  to  be  in  the  clergy  and  the  laity  together. 
In  the  deprivation  of  the  superior  order  of  the  clergy 
there  should  be  no  interference  of  the  civil  authority, 
and  all  action  should  be  in  the  Church  at  large  and  en- 
tirely ecclesiastical.  The  parochial  churches  were  to 
be  on  an  equality,  and  each  parish  should  retain  every 
power  that  need  not  be  delegated  for  the  good  of  the 
whole.  In  the  absence  of  funds  for  the  support  of  the 
superior  order  of  the  clergy,  it  was  stated  that  their 
duties  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  their 
employment  as  parochial  clergymen,  and  their  super- 
intendence was  consequently  to  be  confined  to  small 
districts.  The  particular  organization  here  proposed 
comprehended  permanent  superintending  ministers  with 


40  BISHOP   WHITE. 

powers  similar  to  those  of  bishops.  The  individual 
churches  were  to  be  associated  in  small  districts,  in 
each  of  which  the  minister  should  be  a  delegate  to  a 
convention  composed  of  representatives  elected  from 
the  vestry  or  congregation  of  the  churches  which  they 
served.  A  permanent  president  was  to  be  chosen, 
who  with  other  clergymen  appointed  by  the  body  might 
exercise  powers  purely  spiritual,  powers  of  ordination 
and  disciphne  over  the  clergy,  according  to  reasonable 
laws.  The  United  States  was  to  be  divided  into  three 
large  districts,  each  of  which  should  have  an  annual 
assembly,  consisting  of  members  from  the  smaller  dis- 
tricts within  it,  equally  composed  of  clergy  and  laity, 
and  voted  for  by  those  orders  promiscuously,  the  pre- 
siding clergyman  being  always  one.  In  addition  to 
this,  there  was  to  be  a  body  representing  the  whole 
Church,  consisting  of  members  from  each  of  the  larger 
districts  chosen  from  clergy  and  laity  equally,  which 
should  meet  statedly  once  in  three  years.  On  the 
point  of  Episcopacy,  the  churches  were  not  to  be  far 
from  this  mode  of  government,  and  whatever  was  lack- 
ing to  the  integrity  of  the  system  was  to  be  supplied 
when  the  succession  could  be  obtained. 

There  was  nothing  essentially  contradictory,  in  this 
provisional  system  of  government,  to  the  order  of  the 
Episcopal  Church ;  and  in  this  outline  it  is  possible  to 
trace  the  original  features  of  the  organization  which 
was  attempted  as  soon  after  the  peace  with  Great 
Britain  as  the  clergy  and  laity  could  be  conveniently 
brought  together.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  such 
action  were  great.     Intercourse  by  letter  was  slow  and 


ORGANIZING    THE   AMERICAN  CHURCH.      41 

expensive,  and  the  churches  in  the  New  England 
States  were  practically  separated  from  those  in  the 
Middle  and  Southern  Atlantic  States.  All  the  parishes 
were  disabled;  many  of  the  houses  of  worship  had 
been  destroyed  or  desecrated ;  and  it  was  a  difficult 
matter  to  bring  about  unity  of  action.  As  soon  as  In- 
dependence had  been  declared,  a  few  young  men  to 
the  southward,  who  had  been  educated  for  the  min- 
istry, sailed  for  England,  and  applied  to  Dr.  Lowth, 
the  then  Bishop  of  London,  for  holy  orders.  Bishop 
Lowth  could  not  ordain  them  until  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment had  been  obtained,  allowing  him  to  dispense 
with  the  oaths  of  allegiance  ;  and  while  they  were  wait- 
ing for  this  obstacle  to  be  removed,  Mr.  John  Adams, 
then  the  Minister  of  the  United  States  to  the  Court  of 
St.  James,  prepared  the  way  for  the  obtaining  of  Epis- 
copal ordination  for  these  young  men  from  the  Danish 
Church.  But  this  action  could  not  be  accepted  ex- 
cept in  a  special  exigency,  which  did  not  occur. 
There  was  a  simultaneous  demand  in  the  Southern 
and  Middle  States  that  some  association  should  be 
effected  under  which  the  churches  might  act  as  a 
body,  and  Dr.  White,  in  his  "  Memoirs  of  the  Church," 
thus  describes  the  way  in  which  this  came  about :  — 

"  The  first  step  towards  the  forming  of  a  collective  body 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  was  taken  at 
a  meeting  for  another  purpose  of  a  few  clergymen  of  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  at  Brunswick,  in 
New  Jersey,  on  the  nth  and  12th  of  May,  1784.  These 
clergymen,  in  consequence  of  prior  correspondence,  had 
met  for  the  purpose  of  consulting,  in  what  way  they  could 


42  BISHOP    WHITE. 

renew  a  society  that  had  existed  under  charters  of  incor- 
poration from  the  Governors  of  the  said  three  States,  for 
the  support  of  widows  and  children  of  deceased  clergymen. 
Here  it  was  determined  to  procure  a  larger  meeting  on  the 
fifth  of  the  ensuing  October,  in  New  York ;  not  only  for 
the  purpose  of  reviving  the  said  charitable  institution,  but 
to  confer  and  agree  on  some  general  principles  of  union 
for  th-e  Episcopal  Church  throughout  the  States.  Such  a 
meeting  was  held,  at  the  time  and  place  agreed  on ;  and, 
although  the  members  composing  it  were  not  vested  with 
powers  adequate  to  the  present  exigencies  of  the  Church, 
they  happily,  and  with  great  unanimity,  laid  down  a  few 
general  principles,  to  be  recommended  in  the  respective 
States,  as  the  ground  on  which  a  future  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment should  be  established."  ^ 

These  principles  of  ecclesiastical  union,  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  churches  in  the  several  States,  were  as 
follows :  — 

"  I.  That  there  shall  be  a  General  Convention  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  2.  That  the  Episcopal  Church  in  each  State  send 
deputies  to  the  Convention,  consisting  of  clergy  and  laity. 

"3.  That  associated  congregations,  in  two  or  more 
States,  may  send  deputies  jointly. 

"  4.  That  the  said  Church  shall  maintain  the  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel,  as  now  held  by  the  Church  of  England  ;  and 
shall  adhere  to  the  liturgy  of  the  said  Church,  as  far  as 
shall  be  consistent  with  the  American  Revolution  and  the 
constitutions  of  the  respective  States. 

"  5.  That  in  every  State,  where  there  shall  be  a  bishop 
duly  consecrated  and  settled,  he  shall  be  considered  as  a 
member  of  the  Convention,  ex-officio. 


1  Memoirs  of  the  Church,  3d  ed.,  p.  19. 


ORGANIZING    THE  AMERICAN  CHURCH.      43 

"  6.  That  the  clergy  and  laity,  assembled  in  convention, 
shall  deliberate  in  one  body,  but  shall  vote  separately ;  and 
the  concurrence  of  both  shall  be  necessary  to  give  validity 
to  every  measure. 

"  7.  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  Convention  shall  be  at 
Philadelphia,  the  Tuesday  before  the  feast  of  St.  Michael 
next." 

Up  to  this  time  all  action  had  been  voluntary  on 
the  part  of  the  clergy  and  laity.  The  object  had  been 
to  consult  together  to  see  what  could  be  done.  At  an 
earlier  date  there  had  been  a  gathering  of  the  clergy 
in  Maryland  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  bishop,  and 
Dr.  William  Smith,  then  the  leading  man  among  the 
Maryland  clergy,  had  been  chosen  for  this  office.  It 
was  at  this  meeting  that  the  title  "  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  "  was  used  for  the  first  time.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  with  two  exceptions  no  clergy  from  the  New  Eng- 
land States  were  present  at  these  preliminary  meetings. 
The  reason  for  this  was  that  "  the  more  northern 
clergymen  were  under  apprehension  of  there  being 
a  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  more  southern  to 
make  material  deviation  from  the  ecclesiastical  system 
of  England,  in  the  article  of  Church  government." 
This  is  a  reference  by  Dr.  White  to  his  pamphlet  on 
"The  Case  of  the  Episcopal  Churches  Considered," 
which  had  alarmed  the  clergy  of  Connecticut  and  Mas- 
sachusetts, who  held  strictly  to  the  perpetuation  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  this  country,  with  only  the 
slightest  adjustment  of  the  Prayer-book  to  the  new 
conditions  under  which  it  was  to  be  used.     There  was 

1  Dr.  Wilson's  "  Memoir,"  p.  102. 


44  BISHOP   WHITE. 

also  an  objection  to  the  introduction  of  the  laity  into 
the  Church  councils.  It  is  with  reference  to  this  state 
of  things  that  Dr.  White,  in  his  "  Memoirs  of  the 
Church,"  wonders  "  that  any  sensible  and  well-informed 
persons  should  overlook  the  propriety  of  accommodat- 
ing that  system,  in  some  respects,  to  the  prevailing 
sentiments  and  habits  of  the  people  of  this  country, 
now  become  an  independent  and  combined  common- 
wealth." He  was  not  slow  to  take  action  in  Pennsyl- 
vania to  prepare  for  the  approaching  Convention  of 
the  churches  in  the  different  States,  which  was  to  be 
held  at  Philadelphia  in  September,  1785.  The  pre- 
liminary steps  to  this  end  were  taken  at  his  own  house 
March  29,  1784.  This  was  only  a  few  days  before  the 
first  gathering  of  the  American  clergy  at  New  Bruns- 
wick. The  first  convention  of  the  congregations  in 
Pennsylvania  took  place  in  May,  1784.  Dr.  White 
was  unanimously  chosen  president,  and  clerical  and 
lay  deputies  were  appointed  to  attend  the  General 
Convention  of  the  States  to  be  held  in  the  following 
September,  in  Philadelphia,  Dr.  White  being  one  of 
the  number. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  go  back  a  little  in  order  to 
pick  up  another  part  of  the  narrative.  A  meeting  of 
the  clergy  of  Connecticut,  ten  in  number,  in  the  quiet 
village  of  Woodbury,  in  the  last  week  of  March,  1783, 
hardly  more  than  two  months  after  peace  had  been  de- 
clared, called  to  take  action  with  reference  to  the 
proper  organization  of  the  American  Church,  was 
really  the  first  step  in  a  single  State  to  secure  the 
Episcopal  authority  in  the  United  States.     It  resulted 


ORGANIZING   THE  AMERICAN  CHURCH.      45 

in  the  choice  of  Samuel  Seabury,  the  leading  clergy- 
man in  Connecticut  at  that  time,  as  their  future 
bishop.  The  clergy  were  determined  that  no  effort 
should  be  neglected  to  thwart  what  seemed  to  be  the 
attempt  to  create  an  Episcopal  Church  without  episco- 
pacy, which  Dr.  White  appeared  to  them  then  to  have 
in  mind,  and  Dr.  Seabury  was  immediately  dispatched 
to  London  to  see  what  he  could  do  to  obtain  consecra- 
tion from  the  English  bishops.  He  found  it  impossible 
to  remove  the  obstacles  in  his  way.  For  twelve  months 
he  persisted  in  his  task  without  success.  The  diffi- 
culty was  that  Church  and  State  were  so  connected  in 
England  that  Parliament  must  pass  a  statute  releasing 
foreign  bishops  from  the  oath  of  allegiance,  before 
Americans,  with  whom  the  English  had  just  concluded 
peace,  could  be  consecrated  to  the  office  of  bishops, 
even  for  their  own  country ;  and  the  time  was  not  ripe 
for  any  such  action.  In  his  despair  Dr.  Seabury  sought 
the  Primus  of  Scotland,  Bishop  Kilgour  of  Aberdeen, 
and  after  much  opposition  from  those  who  had  been 
determined  that  no  efforts  should  be  spared  to  prevent 
the  consecration  of  an  American  bishop,  he  was  con- 
secrated in  the  private  chapel  of  the  Bishop-Coadjutor 
of  Aberdeen,  on  the  14th  of  November,  1784.  This 
was  the  consummation  of  the  first  wish  of  Bishop  Sea- 
bury's  heart  and  the  great  endeavour  of  his  life,  and  it 
vastly  changed  the  situation  in  the  American  States ; 
but  when  he  returned  to  Connecticut,  he  found  that 
steps  had  already  been  taken  for  the  organization  of 
the  Episcopal  churches  upon  a  more  comprehensive 
plan  than  had  been  attempted  by  the  clergy  of  Con- 


46  BISHOP   WHITE. 

necticut.  During  his  absence  the  Massachusetts  clergy 
had  met  in  Boston,  and  had  adopted  principles  similar 
to  those  which  had  been  accepted  at  the  meeting  in 
New  York  in  September,  1784,  but  later  on  they  mani- 
fested a  disposition  not  to  take  a  part  in  the  Conven- 
tion invited  to  assemble  at  Philadelphia  on  the  27th  of 
September,  1785.1  It  is  important  to  dwell  upon  these 
facts,  because  they  represent  two  lines  of  divergence 
which  have  existed  from  the  first  in  the  American 
Episcopal  Church,  and  which  grew  out  of  the  develop - 

1  How  little  exchange  of  opinion  and  understanding  of  the 
situation  among  Churchmen  there  was  in  those  days,  is  illus- 
trated by  the  conduct  of  the  Connecticut  Churchmen  at  this  time 
toward  the  scattered  churches  in  the  new  American  States. 
When  Dr.  White,  then  but  thirty-four  years  of  age,  at  what 
seemed  to  him  the  great  crisis  in  the  Revolution,  put  forth  the 
pamphlet  entitled  "  The  Case  of  the  Episcopal  Churches  Con- 
sidered," which  was  intended  to  bridge  over  a  difficulty  that 
could  not  be  surmounted,  they  were  not  slow,  seven  months 
after  the  exigency  had  passed  which  it  was  intended  to  serve, 
to  read  him  an  instructive  homily  on  his  venturing  outside  of 
Episcopacy  in  a  struggle  for  life  and  mere  existence,  overlooking 
the  fact  that  every  copy  within  reach  had  long  been  withdrawn  ; 
and  yet  they  had  not  the  friendliness  to  tell  the  young  Philadel- 
phian  that  they  had  appointed  Samuel  Seabury  to  go  abroad  to 
seek  consecration.  This  he  learned  at  New  Brunswick  in  May, 
1784,  when  Mr.  Moore  informed  him  of  the  Woodbury  transac- 
tion which  had  taken  ^^\■^iZt  foitrteen  months  before  !  This  single 
incident  shows  the  difference  of  feeling  between  the  two  sections 
of  the  American  Church,  and  how  little  the  Connecticut  brethren 
realized  the  larger  problem  with  which  they  had  to  deal ;  but  all 
these  misunderstandings  were  cleared  away,  when,  later  on,  the 
two  bishops  met  together  and  laboured  jointly  for  the  common 
good  of  the  Church. 


ORGANIZING   THE  AMERICAN  CHURCH.     47 

ment  of  the  Church  among  two  different  sorts  of  people 
during  the  colonial  period. 

The  parishes  of  the  English  Church  in  New  Eng- 
land were  composed  partly  of  persons  who  had  been 
won  over  from  Puritanism  and  partly  of  English  colo- 
nists who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  old  faith.  Early 
in  the  eighteenth  century  large  numbers  of  the  native 
New  England  people  had  embraced  the  principles  of 
what  Governor  Winthrop  called  "  our  dear  Mother,  the 
Church  of  England,"  especially  in  Connecticut  and 
Massachusetts,  and  had  become  what  might  be  called 
strong  Churchmen.  They  .held  their  opinions  with  in- 
tense conviction  and  were  as  forward  and  active  in 
their  religion  as  in  their  politics.  The  Church  people 
of  New  York  shared  these  intense  convictions  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  with  them ;  but  in,  the  other  parts  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  where  the  English  Church  had  a  foot- 
hold the  people  were  of  a  different  type  of  character, 
and  this  to  some  extent  modified  their  Churchmanship. 
The  Quaker  and  German  elements  largely  coloured  the 
type  of  Episcopacy  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  Delaware 
the  Swedish  element  was  a  determining  factor.  In 
Maryland  and  in  Virginia  the  old  proprietary  system 
had  a  controlling  influence,  and  the  clergy  were  more 
eminent  in  religion  than  in  morals.  The  people  like 
the  clergy  were  unwilling  to  submit  to  discipline,  and 
with  their  bishop  at  the  head  of  the  largest  diocese  in 
the  world,  and  three  thousand  miles  away,  it  was  im- 
possible to  maintain  ecclesiastical  discipline.  Still 
further  south,  in  the  Carolinas,  the  spiritual  condition 
was  not  much  better.     When  peace  was  declared  be- 


48  BISHOP    WHITE. 

tween  Great  Britain  and  the  American  colonies  the 
poKtical  connection  between  the  new  States  was  not 
much  more  concrete  than  the  ecclesiastical  ties.  New 
England  was  a  section  quite  by  itself,  and  the  Middle 
and  Southern  States  were  essentially  identified  in  public 
matters.  It  is  not  strange  that  in  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
with  these  two  hereditary  conditions  which  sprang  from 
the  soil,  there  should  be  a  stronger  and  a  different  type 
of  Churchmanship  in  New  England  from  that  which 
prevailed  to  the  southward.  In  New  England  the 
clergy  with  unreasonable  haste  had  proceeded  to  elect 
a  bishop  without  the  consent  of  the  laity,  without  pre- 
viously preparing  the  way  for  it  by  a  proper  organization 
of  the  parishes,  and  without  reporting  their  action  to 
the  parishes  in  the  other  States.  It  was  partly  on 
account  of  the  absence  of  authoritative  credentials 
beyond  the  testimony  of  the  clergy,  that  Dr.  Seabury, 
gentleman  and  scholar  as  he  was,  failed  to  secure  the 
Episcopate  from  the  English  bishops. 

On  the  other  hand,  with  the  ecclesiastical  elements  in 
many  quarters  so  indifferent  and  unintelligent  that  they 
could  not  be  depended  upon  for  the  support  of  such 
measures  as  might  be  adopted.  Dr.  White  had  such  con- 
trol over  the  parishes  in  Pennsylvania,  and  took  such  a 
statesmanlike  view  of  the  situation,  that  he  brought  the 
Churchmen  of  that  State  into  an  organized  condition, 
representing  the  Church  in  its  integrity,  before  any 
effort  was  made  to  secure  the  Episcopate.  Then  there 
was  something  in  a  representative  form  to  be  depended 
upon  when  the  first  preliminary  General  Convention 
was  called  for  at  Philadelphia  in  1785.     It  was  Bishop 


ORGANIZING   THE   AMERICAN  CHURCH.       49 

White's  suggestion  in  his  suppressed  pamphlet,  that  the 
laity  should  be  included  jointly  with  the  clergy  in  the 
efforts  to  organize  the  parishes  into  ecclesiastical  juris- 
dictions coterminous  with  the  several  States.  In  all 
the  New  England  jurisdictions  the  laity  were  at  first 
rigidly  excluded,  though  they  were  afterwards  admitted. 
Bishop  Moberly  has  seen  fit  to  specially  commend  the 
American  Church  for  going  back  to  primitive  usage  in 
admitting  the  laity  to  a  share  in  the  organized  life  of 
the  Church,  and  it  was  due  to  Dr.  White's  clear  dis- 
cernment of  its  necessity  at  that  time  for  the  wise 
organization  of  the  American  dioceses  that  the  laity 
were  associated  with  the  clergy  in  ecclesiastical  legis- 
lation. Probably  he  was  quite  as  much  influenced  by 
the  demands  of  common  sense  as  by  the  claims  of 
Catholic  antiquity.  The  English  Church  had  been 
from  the  beginning  in  this  country  so  largely  controlled 
by  the  influential  laity  that  any  other  course  would  have 
been  suicidal,  and  to  his  discernment  of  the  real  con- 
dition of  things  is  mainly  due  the  fact  that  the  laity 
have  been  allowed  to  participate  to  an  unprecedented 
degree  in  the  direction  of  our  ecclesiastical  affairs. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  two  figures  rising  at  this 
point  into  prominence  in  the  organization  and  develop- 
ment of  the  American  Church.  Dr.  White  and  Dr. 
Seabury  before  the  Revolution  were  the  leading  clergy- 
men in  their  respective  fields  of  labour.  It  could  not 
be  said  in  truth  that  they  differed  widely  in  their 
Churchmanship.  The  difference  was  more  in  their  way 
of  meeting  and  dealing  with  ecclesiastical  questions 
than  in  the  divergence   of   their  views  of   the  truth. 


50  BISHOP   WHITE. 

After  they  became  bishops,  they  were  quickly  recog- 
nized as  not  only  leaders  but  champions  of  the  faith. 
Bishop  Seabury  was  confident,  impulsive,  aggressive. 
He  made  the  Puritans  sensible  of  his  authority  as  an 
ecclesiastic,  and  no  man  was  more  a  bishop  than  he 
when  dressed  in  his  robes  of  office.  He  was  sensitive 
and  zealous  for  every  bit  of  prerogative  and  every  part 
of  the  Catholic  faith.  In  temperament  Bishop  White 
was  his  opposite.  While  always  a  man  of  dignity  and 
reserve,  he  never  insisted  upon  his  prerogative  as  a 
bishop.  Once  at  the  roll-call  of  a  society  to  which  he 
belonged  among  the  Quakers,  his  name  was  read  as 
William  White.  Some  one  broke  in  upon  the  reader 
with  the  charge  of  disrespect  toward  the  bishop,  but 
he  quickly  interposed  with  the  words,  ''  I  am  perfectly 
contented  with  the  name  my  mother  gave  me."  He 
carried  his  ends  without  seeming  to  do  so.  His  re- 
serves were  more  remarkable  than  his  utterances  and 
gave  him  a  silent  power  among  men.  He  always  took 
the  sensible  line  of  conduct ;  and  if  in  a  community 
where  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church  were  at 
a  discount  he  adjusted  himself  to  the  sentiment  of  the 
people  in  presenting  the  claims  of  his  own  communion, 
it  was  not  because  he  was  a  man  indifferent  to  Church 
principles  or  without  a  firm  belief  in  them  himself,  but 
because  he  felt  profoundly  convinced  that  it  was  better 
to  cany  the  whole  community  with  him  for  moderate 
views  than  to  have  the  commendation  of  a  part  of  it 
and  the  honest  antagonism  of  the  rest.  The  two  men 
were  the  complement  of  one  another,  and  when  they 
came  together  as  the  first  two  members  of  the  House 


ORGANIZING  THE  AMERICAN  CHURCH.        51 

of  Bishops,  and  sat  on  opposite  sides  of  the  table  in 
Bishop  White's  study,  after  their  early  differences  had 
been  arranged,  they  were  like  Paul  and  Apollos  work- 
ing together  for  the  increase  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  natural  order  of  the  narrative  has  been  a  little 
anticipated  in  order  to  obtain  a  certain  perspective. 
It  is  time  to  turn  back  to  the  natural  course  of  events 
in  the  organization  of  the  American  Church.  The  in- 
terest centres  at  this  time  in  the  wise  steps  by  which 
Dr.  White  proceeded  in  securing  a  proper  ecclesiastical 
organization.  It  was  his  aim  to  prepare  for  the  choice 
of  a  bishop  by  the  proper  representatives  of  the  Church. 
The  first  thing  to  do  was  to  collect  and  unite  its  scat- 
tered members  so  that  they  might  be  a  body  over 
which  a  bishop  could  be  placed  when  consecrated,  and 
on  whose  authority  he  could  depend  in  his  application 
to  the  English  bishops  for  consecration.  The  General 
Convention,  which  met  in  Philadelphia  on  the  27th  of 
September,  1785,  consisted  of  representatives  from 
seven  States,  —  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina. 
Dr.  White  was  unanimously  chosen  president,  and  the 
Church  was  organized  and  united  in  these  States  under 
a  provisional  and  general  constitution,  which  was  not 
finally  ratified  until  the  Convention  of  1789.  This 
gathering  was  of  the  first  importance,  because,  under 
Dr.  White's  direction,  it  blocked  out  the  course  which 
was  to  be  taken  in  the  future  in  regard  to  the  Episco- 
pate, the  constitution,  the  liturgy,  the  articles  of  re- 
ligion, and  the  canons.  The  Convention  entered  on 
the  business  of  the  Episcopacy,  with  the    knowledge 


52  BISHOP   WHITE. 

there  was  then  a  bishop  in  Connecticut,  consecrated 
not  in  England  but  by  the  Non-juring  bishops  of 
Scotland.  Bishop  Seabury  had  already  begun  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  new  functions,  early  in  the  preceding  sum- 
mer, and  two  or  three  persons  in  the  Southern  States 
had  received  ordination  at  his  hands.  And  yet^  with 
no  disrespect  to  the  new  bishop,  the  majority  of  the 
members  of  this  Convention  thought  it  most  proper  that 
they  should  obtain  the  Episcopate  directly  from  the 
Enghsh  Church. 

The  war  was  then  so  recent,  and  ecclesiastical  and 
political  affairs  in  England  were  so  comphcated,  that 
this  object  had  to  be  conducted  with  the  greatest  tact 
and  delicacy,  for  fear  that  it  would  provoke  opposition 
in  England,  and  would  be  resented  as  an  act  by  which 
the  Episcopal  Church  intended  to  unduly  assert  itself 
in  this  country.  However  loyal  to  the  new  govern- 
ment its  members  then  might  be,  the  Church  as  a 
whole  was  in  great  disfavour  in  America  because  many 
of  its  clergy  and  laity  had  taken  the  Tory  side  during 
the  Revolution.  In  nothing  is  the  sagacity  of  Dr. 
White  more  distinctly  seen  than  in  the  way  in  which 
he  proceeded  in  disarming  opposition  in  America  to 
the  request  that  the  Episcopal  succession  should  be 
obtained  from  the  English  bishops  ;  and  a  signal  proof 
of  it  is  that  John  Adams,  a  Puritan  of  strict  type,  was 
foremost  in  his  efforts  to  forward  this  business  when 
clergymen  were  sent  to  England  to  obtain  Episcopal 
consecration.  Such  limited  powers  as  this  Convention 
possessed  were  put  to  service  in  the  form  of  an  address 
to  the   archbishops  and    bishops   of   England,  asking 


ORGANIZING   THE  AMERICAN  CHURCH.       53 

them  to  consecrate  to  the  Episcopacy  those  persons 
who  should  be  sent  with  that  purpose  in  view  from 
the  churches  in  any  of  the  States  respectively.  Dr. 
White  prepared  this  address,  and  it  was  adopted  sub- 
stantially as  he  wrote  it.  It  was  received  with  friendly 
caution.  The  liturgy,  as  altered,  and  also  the  constitu- 
tion then  adopted,  though  sent  to  England,  had  not 
reached  that  country  at  the  date  of  their  reply  to  the 
address. 

After  the  Convention  had  adjourned,  the  English 
bishops  sent  a  second  letter,  in  which  they  commented 
upon  the  omissions  which  had  been  made  in  the  re- 
vision of  the  book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  gave  the 
promise  that  an  act  of  Parliament  would  be  passed  by 
which  the  powers  necessary  for  the  proposed  consecra- 
tion would  be  granted  by  the  State  to  the  bishops  for 
this  purpose.  A  third  letter  from  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  gave  notice  that  this  act  had  been  passed, 
and  that  in  their  opinion  in  England  only  three  bishops 
should  be  consecrated  for  the  United  States.  Dr. 
White  was  unanimously  elected  bishop  of  Pennsylvania 
at  a  special  convention,  which  was  held  on  the  14th  of 
September,  1786.  Three  only  of  the  clergy  of  that 
State  besides  himself  were  present,  though  two  clergy- 
men belonging  to  it  expressed  their  concurrence  in 
the  election  later  on.  At  about  the  same  time  the  Rev. 
j\Ir.  Provoost  was  elected  bishop  in  New  York.  The 
adjourned  General  Convention  met  at  Wilmington, 
Del.,  according  to  previous  appointment,  and  signed 
the  testimonials  in  favour  of  the  two  bishops-elect. 
They  also  took  pains  to  satisfy  the  English  prelates  that 


54  BISHOP   WHITE. 

they  had  taken  every  possible  care  to  maintam  the 
same  essential  articles  of  faith  and  discipline  which  had 
been  handed  down  in  the  Church  of  England.  They 
restored  the  article,  "  He  descended  into  hell "  in  the 
Apostles'  Creed  and  inserted  the  Nicene  Creed  in  the 
liturgy,  but  they  refused  to  admit  the  Athanasian. 
Dr.  White  was  the  ruling  spirit  in  all  these  delibera- 
tions, and  the  committee  on  the  communications  from 
the  English  bishops  sat  up  all  night  to  digest  the 
measures  which  were  adopted  the  next  day  in  the 
Convention. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  account  already  given  that 
Dr.  White  and  Mr.  Provoost  were  chosen  bishops  and 
were  prepared  to  visit  England  for  their  consecration 
under  far  different  auspices  from  those  under  which 
Dr.  Seabury  had  proceeded  three  years  earlier.  The 
object  was  the  same,  but  the  preparation  for  it  shows  a 
different  conception  of  the  requirements  of  the  Church 
from  that  which  obtained  in  New  England.  Dr.  White 
had  laboured  from  the  beginning  of  his  larger  responsi- 
bilities to  unite  the  scattered  congregations  in  the  dif- 
ferent Middle  and  Southern  States,  and  his  success  in 
reaching  this  result  was  due  to  his  knowledge  of  men 
and  his  intuitive  good  sense  in  knowing  how  far  to  go. 
Much  fault  has  been  found  with  the  "  Proposed  Book." 
He  led  the  way  in  liturgical  changes  which  would  have 
lowered  the  Episcopal  Church  in  its  early  beginnings  in 
this  country  to  a  point  of  practice  in  doctrine  and  dis- 
cipline and  worship  which  at  the  end  of  a  century  its 
members  are  thankful  to  have  left  forever  behind  ;  but 
though  this  revision  of  the  Prayer-book  in   1785  was 


ORGANIZING   THE  AMERICAN  CHURCH.       55 

quickly  superseded  by  a  book  in  which  there  was  a 
closer  conformity  to  the  Church  of  England,  it  was  not 
so  unwise  a  work  as  it  has  often  since  been  represented 
to  have  been.  In  point  of  fact,  Dr.  Smith  was  the 
promoter  of  most  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  doctrinal 
changes.  In  the  Middle  and  Southern  States  there 
had  to  be  much  yielding  to  the  environment,  if  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  its  independent  form  was  to  be 
organized  at  all.  This  latitudinarianism  did  not  express 
the  fulness  of  Dr.  White's  own  convictions,  but  his  eye 
was  on  the  possibilities  of  securing  a  united  and  prop- 
erly organized  Church,  and  he  trusted  to  the  future  to 
bring  many  things  into  the  right  shape,  when  he  ac- 
cepted a  present  statement  of  which  he  did  not  fully 
approve.  Between  the  free  and  easy  laity,  who  largely 
represented  the  Church  in  Virginia  and  Maryland,  and 
who  feared  that  the  introduction  of  the  bishop  would 
greatly  interfere  with  their  habits  of  living,  and  the 
German  and  Quaker  elements  which  largely  repre- 
sented the  unorganized  religious  life  in  Pennsylvania, 
it  was  necessary  for  him  to  take  a  moderate  and 
middle  course,  passing  lightly  over  points  which  he 
deemed  to  be  defective  in  order  to  secure  other  points 
which  were  vital.  By  thus  proceeding  with  wise  cau- 
tion and  with  a  mild  enforcement  of  fundamental 
principles,  he  secured  a  practically  united  Church ; 
where,  if  he  had  insisted  upon  all  his  convictions,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  secure  and  maintain  a 
practical  unity.  The  benefit  of  proceeding  in  this  way 
was  easily  perceived  when  the  bishops-elect  proceeded 
to  England  and  asked  for  consecration  to  the  Episco- 


56  BISHOP  WHITE. 

pate.  They  had  their  credentials,  and  a  feeble  but 
organized  Church  was  behind  them  and  had  already 
endorsed  them.  This  was  the  secret  of  their  speedy 
success  in  obtaining  consecration,  and  it  largely  ex- 
plains the  cause  of  Dr.  Seabury's  rejection  by  the 
English  bishops. 


AN  INDEPENDENT  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.      5  7 


CHAPTER   IV. 

AN    INDEPENDENT    CHURCH    IN   AMERICA. 

The  two  bishops-elect  embarked  in  the  monthly 
packet  for  England  on  the  2d  of  November,  1786, 
and  arrived  at  Falmouth  on  the  20th  of  the  same 
month.  On  the  4th  of  February,  1787,  their  consecra- 
tion took  place  in  Lambeth  Chapel.  Toward  the  end 
of  the  month  they  sailed  for  New  York,  where  they  ar- 
rived on  the  7th  of  April,  and  soon  began  the  exercise 
of  the  Episcopal  office  in  their  respective  dioceses. 
There  was  no  lack  of  courtesies  to  Bishop  Seabury 
during  the  time  that  other  parts  of  the  American 
Church  were  waiting  to  obtain  the  Episcopate  in  the 
English  line.  While  the  bishop  and  clergy  of  Connec- 
ticut did  not  like  the  complexion  of  the  measures  taken 
for  the  calling  of  a  General  Convention  at  Philadelphia 
in  1785,  they  invited  several  of  the  Southern  clergy  to 
a  convention  to  be  held  in  the  summer  of  1784  at 
New  Haven.  It  is  plainly  confessed  that  there  was  a 
strong  feeling  on  the  part  of  Bishop  Seabury  that 
Dr.  White  was  not  caring  for  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Church,  and  that  he  was  lowering  its  standard  to  the 
level  of  the  prejudices  of  the  people  among  whom  he 
lived.  Dr.  White  easily  understood  this,  and  while 
he  congratulated  Bishop  Seabury  on  his  arrival  home 


58  BISHOP  WHITE. 

and  apologized  for  not  coming  to  his  convention,  the 
clergy  of  Connecticut  were  invited  in  turn  by  the 
Philadelphia  Churchmen  to  attend  their  General  Con- 
vention. This  Bishop  Seabury  also  declined  to  do. 
Stiffness  and  courtesy  were  manifested  on  both  sides. 

Dr.  White  did  not  deny  the  validity  of  Bishop  Sea- 
bury's  consecration,  but  he  was  determined  not  to  take 
any  step  by  which  the  completeness  of  the  Episcopal 
succession  in  the  English  line  might  be  impaired  for 
the  American  Church.  Directly  after  he  had  returned 
from  England,  it  was  proposed  that  he  and  Bishop 
Provoost  should  unite  with  Bishop  Seabury  in  conse- 
crating the  Rev.  Edward  Bass,  who  had  been  elected 
bishop  by  the  clergy  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp- 
shire ;  but  both  of  the  bishops  in  the  English  line  were 
opposed  to  this  as  unwise,  and  Bishop  Provoost  was 
even  unwilling  to  recognize  the  validity  of  the  Scotch 
succession.  Bishop  White  was  happily  relieved  from 
his  embarrassment,  before  any  action  became  neces- 
sary, by  the  consecration  of  Dr.  Madison  in  England 
for  Bishop  of  Virginia.  There  were  now  three  bishops 
in  America  who  had  derived  their  Episcopate  from  the 
English  succession. 

The  centripetal  forces  in  the  Church  at  this  time  were 
greater  than  the  centrifugal.  It  was  for  the  interest  of 
Bishop  Seabury  and  his  party  as  much  as  it  was  for 
Bishop  White  and  his  party  to  put  away  their  differ- 
ences and  come  together,  though  Bishop  Provoost  could 
never  forget  that  Bishop  Seabury  had  been  a  Tory  in 
the  Revolution,  and  was  irresistibly  opposed  to  his  Whig 
principles.    He  had  been  chosen  bishop  by  churchmen 


AN  INDEPENDENT  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.      59 

mostly  belonging  to  this  party  in  New  York,  and  much 
of  his  failure  to  develop  his  diocese  and  secure  the  con- 
fidence of  his  clergy  was  attributed  to  this  cause.  The 
first  time  that  the  two  prelates  met  was  at  an  adjourned 
meeting  of  the  General  Convention,  which  was  held  in 
Philadelphia  in  September,  1789.  Bishop  Provoost 
was  detained  at  home  by  illness,  and  only  two  bishops 
were  present.  Bishop  Seabury  and  Bishop  White.  The 
first  House  of  Bishops  held  its  sessions  in  his  own  study, 
in  the  new  house  which  had  been  built  for  him  and 
completed  while  he  was  absent  in  England  to  obtain 
his  consecration.  It  was  located  in  Walnut  street,  and, 
though  still  complete  in  its  outside  form,  is  no  longer 
used  as  a  dwelling  house.  The  rooms  which  Bishop 
White  occupied  as  a  study  and  bedroom  are  still  kept 
in  substantially  the  condition  in  which  he  used  them  a 
century  ago.  It  was  here  that  these  two  men,  who 
had  been  for  several  years  under  constant  temptation 
to  misunderstand  one  another,  contested  over  a  study 
table  the  principles  which  should  be  maintained  in- 
violate in  the  American  Episcopal  Church. 

The  two  men  were  the  complement  of  one  another,  the 
one  prudent  and  wise,  the  other  valiant  and  uncompro- 
mising in  his  principles,  and  only  yielding  where  discre- 
tion seemed  to  be  the  better  part  of  valour.  Bishop 
Seabury  was  attended  by  two  deputies  from  Connecticut 
and  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Parker,  afterwards  Bishop 
Parker,  who  represented  the  churches  in  Massachusetts 
and  New  Hampshire.  A  conference  took  place  between 
them  and  a  committee  of  the  Convention,  and  the  result 
was  that  after  some  modifications  they  signed  the  con- 


6o  BISHOP  WHITE. 

stitution,  and  the  union  was  completed.  Bishop  White 
afterwards  wrote  that  Dr.  Parker  of  Boston  was  largely 
influential  in  bringing  about  this  harmonious  arrange- 
ment. The  clergy  in  that  State,  though  still  without  a 
bishop,  were  equally  free  from  the  authority  of  men  in 
England  or  Connecticut,  and  they  had  it  in  their  power 
to  act  the  part  of  mediators  in  bringing  the  clergy  of 
Connecticut  and  those  of  other  States  together.  It 
ought  also  to  be  said  that  Bishop  Seabury,  during  the 
period  in  which  his  jurisdiction  was  not  recognized  be- 
yond Connecticut,  and  also  in  these  negotiations,  con- 
ducted himself  with  the  dignity  and  cordiality  which 
belonged  to  his  offlce  ;  and  when  he  and  Bishop  White 
in  the  latter's  study  sat  face  to  face,  they  were  practi- 
cally the  guiding  and  restraining  minds  in  the  Ameri- 
can Church.  They  were  in  the  positions  where  each 
could  render  the  highest  service  in  its  organization. 

It  is  impossible  to  present  Bishop  White  in  his  work 
as  its  founder  and  leader,  without  entering  into  detail 
on  points  of  organization.  The  General  Convention 
of  1789  was  the  first  really  authoritative  gathering  of 
American  Churchmen.  Though  much  which  had  been 
outlined  in  other  meetings  of  the  clergy  and  laity  was 
practically  adopted,  it  was  not  until  this  time  that  it 
was  considered  to  have  a  binding  force.  The  laity  had, 
by  Bishop  White's  devising,  been  admitted  as  equal  re- 
presentatives with  the  clergy  in  the  Lower  House  from 
the  beginning,  but  it  was  at  this  time  that  Bishop  Sea- 
bury  and  the  clergy  of  Connecticut  consented  with 
reluctance  that  the  two  orders  should  sit  together  in 
the  same  House.    It  was  a  notable  event  to  admit  the 


AN  IiVDEPEiYDENT  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.     6 1 

laity  into  the  Church  Councils.  It  was  secured  by 
yielding  to  conquer.  The  rule  had  been  that  each  State 
should  have  clerical  and  lay  deputies  in  its  diocesan 
convention.  At  the  solicitation  of  the  clergy  of  Con- 
necticut this  article  of  the  constitution  was  omitted  to 
suit  their  case.  By  allowing  them  the  privilege  of 
organizing  the  convention  in  their  own  State  on  the 
principles  preferred  by  themselves,  all  opposition  was 
disarmed,  and  the  result  was  that  in  the  General  Con- 
vention of  1 792  lay  as  well  as  clerical  deputies  appeared 
from  that  State,  and  their  diocesan  convention  was  then 
so  ordered  that  lay  deputies  from  the  parishes  were 
admitted  to  it. 

The  first  consecration  which  took  place  in  the  United 
States  was  that  of  Dr.  Claggett,  as  Bishop  of  Mary- 
land, at  the  General  Convention  of  1792  in  New  York. 
Dr.  Madison  of  Virginia  had  been  consecrated  by  the 
English  prelates  in  September,  1790.  Bishop  Provoost 
presided,  and  was  assisted  by  Bishops  White  and  Madi- 
son, and  by  Bishop  Seabury,  who  for  the  first  time  ex- 
ercised the  highest  gift  of  his  Episcopal  oftice.  By 
this  act  all  the  suspicions  which  Bishop  Seabury  at 
times  entertained,  that  the  bishops  in  the  English  line 
intended  to  ignore  his  office  were  set  aside,  and  from 
this  time  until  his  death  in  1796  no  one  laboured  more 
vigorously  than  he  to  secure  the  complete  organization 
and  the  full  development  of  the  American  Episcopal 
Church. 

At  first  there  was  no  House  of  Bishops,  for  the  very 
good  reason  that  the  General  Convention  was  organized 
before  any  bishops  had  been  consecrated  to  constitute 


62  BISHOP   WHITE. 

such  a  House.  There  was  very  great  jealousy  of  anything 
like  Episcopal  authority,  and  it  was  regarded  in  1786 
as  a  great  point  gained  that  the  right  of  presiding  was 
secured  to  the  bishops.  It  was  by  this  concession  that 
Bishop  White  presided,  as  the  senior  bishop,  in  the  Con- 
vention of  1789.  But  when  there  should  be  three  bish- 
ops of  the  Church,  it  was  provided  that  they  should 
form  a  separate  House,  and  that  their-power  should  be 
confined  to  the  revision  of  the  acts  of  the  Lower  House, 
which  might,  in  case  of  their  nonconcurrence,  pass  an 
act  by  a  majority  of  three-fifths  of  that  House.  In  .this 
arrangement  Bishop  White  took  no  part.  The  only 
point  which  Bishop  Seabury  insisted  upon  when  the 
union  took  place,  was  that  the  Constitution  should  be 
so  modified  as  to  declare  explicitly  the  right  of  the 
bishops,  when  sitting  in  a  separate  House,  to  originate 
and  propose  acts  for  the  concurrence  of  the  other 
House,  and  to  negative  such  acts  proposed  by  that 
House  as  they  might  disapprove.  This  was  boldly 
holding  up  the  Episcopal  authority ;  and  had  not  a  lay 
delegate  from  Virginia  objected  that  it  was  a  stretch  of 
authority  that  the  Church  in  Virginia  would  dissent 
from,  it  would  have  been  accepted.  It  was  not  to  be 
accompHshed  until  the  Convention  of  1808,  and  Bishop 
Seabury  and  the  New  England  deputies  reluctantly  ac- 
quiesced in  a  compromise  which  came  short  of  what 
they  thought  that  Episcopal  government  demanded. 

Before  the  House  of  Bishops  was  created  it  was  a 
permanent  rule  of  order  that  in  the  General  Conven- 
tion "  the  senior  bishop  present  should  be  the  presi- 
dent, —  seniority  to  be  reckoned  from  the  dates  of  the 


AN  INDEPENDENT  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.     ^Z 

letters  of  consecration."  This  made  Bishop  Seabury  the 
first  president  of  the  house.  In  1792  Bishops  Provoost 
and  Madison  were  dissatisfied  with  this  rule.  Bishop 
White  believed  that  it  was  the  correct  principle,  but 
to  avoid  any  appearance  of  seeming  to  claim  his  right 
under  the  rule,  he  absented  himself  from  the  House  on 
the  morning  when  the  matter  was  to  come  up,  and  the 
rule  was  then  altered  so  that  the  bishops  held  the  presi- 
dency in  rotation.  This  made  Dr.  Provoost  president  in 
1 792,  but  in  1804  the  former  rule  was  again  established, 
and  Dr.  White  then  became  and  continued  to  be  the 
presiding  bishop  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Not 
only  this,  but  he  wrote  and  issued  all  the  pastoral  letters 
addressed  to  the  whole  Episcopal  Church  until  1836. 

In  the  Convention  of  1789  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  essentially  as  we  know  it  to-day,  took  its  shape. 
The  Prayer-book  of  the  Church  of  England  was  used 
without  alteration  until  the  Fourth  of  July,  1776.  On 
this  day  the  vestry  of  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's, 
Philadelphia,  directed  the  disuse  by  the  clergy  of  the 
parish  of  the  petitions  wherein  the  King  of  Great 
Britain  was  prayed  for.  No  other  change  took  place 
until  the  Convention  of  1785.  It  was  then  at  first  in- 
tended to  make  only  the  changes  and  the  alterations 
which  the  civil  changes  required ;  but  in  this  Conven- 
tion it  was  soon  found  that  much  more  ought  to  be 
done,  and  done  in  a  different  way  from  the  liberal  use 
of  the  pruning-knife  shown  in  the  "  Proposed  Book." 
The  English  bishops  had  been  cautious  to  guard  against 
these  changes  in  favour  of  a  lower  standard  of  principles 
and  devotion,  and  in  1789  the  time  had  gone  by  when 


64  BISHOP  WHITE. 

the  "  Proposed  Book  "  was  acceptable  even  to  the  ma- 
jority of  American  Churchmen.  The  revision  of  1789 
brought  out  a  striking  difference  in  the  course  adopted 
by  the  two  Houses  in  the  General  Convention.  The 
bishops  held  that  the  Church  under  another  name  was 
still  the  same  body  which  existed  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  was  in  possession  of  all  the  institutions  that 
then  existed.  The  other  House  proceeded  as  if  the 
thing  to  do  was  to  prepare  offices  that  were  absolutely 
new.  As  this  course  was  confined  to  the  Lower  House, 
it  did  not  have  authority  against  the  principle  adopted 
by  the  bishops.  Thus  the  revision  of  the  liturgy  was 
saved  from  the  excesses  to  which  many  in  the  Lower 
House  might  have  carried  it.  It  fell  to  Bishop  White, 
though  he  was  not  in  favour  of  making  a  selection  of 
the  psalms  in  metre,  as  one  of  the  bishops  appointed 
on  the  committee,  to  aid  in  preparing  the  psalms  and 
hymns  in  metre  for  use  in  the  earlier  days  of  the 
Church.  At  that  time  the  idea  prevailed  largely  that 
in  appointing  psalms  and  hymns  and  the  metre  to  be 
used,  heresy  might  be  brought  into  the  Church  and 
cause  a  great  deal  of  difficulty.  The  alterations  in  the 
ordination  offices,  on  the  review  of  them  in  1792,  were 
prepared  by  the  bishops.  Bishop  White  says,  in  his 
"Memoirs  "  :  — 

"  There  was  no  material  difference  of  opinion  except  in 
regard  to  the  words  used  by  the  bishop  at  the  ordination 
of  priests,  '  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost,'  and,  '  Whose  sins 
thou  doest  forgive  they  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  thou 
doest  retain,  they  are  retained.'  Bishop  Seabury,  who 
alone  was  tenacious  of  this  form,  consented  at  last,  with 


AN  INDEPENDENT  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.     65 

great  reluctance,  to  allow  the  alternative  of  another  as  it 
now  stands." i 

The  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England 
were  then  regarded  as  more  important  than  they  are 
now,  and  the  English  bishops  were  strenuous  that  they 
should  be  retained  essentially  in  their  integrity.  This 
was  the  occasion  of  discussion  in  several  conventions. 
Bishop  Madison  did  not  believe  in  having  any  articles 
of  religion  at  all,  and  Bishop  Provoost  held  the  same 
opinion  ;  while  Bishop  Seabury,  at  first  in  doubt 
whether  it  was  expedient  to  have  any,  was  afterwards 
strongly  convinced  that  they  should  be  retained. 
Bishop  Claggett  was  in  favour  of  them  ;  Bishop  White 
also  professed  himself  an  advocate  for  articles ;  but 
they  were  not  finally  established  as  documents  of 
authority  until  the  Convention-  of  1801.  Bishop  White 
did  not  consider  them  the  best  rule  of  faith  that  could 
be  devised,  but  he  thought  that  they  were  better  than 
any  others  likely  to  be  obtained  under  present  circum- 
stances. The  members  of  the  General  Convention  in 
that  day  were  not  equal  to  entering  upon  determina- 
tions of  such  magnitude. 

It  was  a  different  work  that  came  before  the  Con- 
vention of  1789  when  it  entered  upon  the  framing  of 
a  code  of  canons  for  the  regulation  of  the  Church. 
Bishop  White's  experience  and  learning  and  judgment 
were  of  signal  use  in  forming  and  improving  it.  It  was 
a  work  which  had  to  be  undertaken  almost  entirely 
afresh.     The  Church  of  England  supplied  many  excel- 

1  Third  edition,  p.  191. 
5 


66  BISHOP  WHITE. 

lent  principles  in  its  canons,  but  the  situation  of  the 
two  Churches  was  so  different  that  very  few  of  the 
EngUsh  canons  could  be  adopted  in  the  United  States. 
Bishop  White  was  prominent  in  all  the  canonical  legis- 
lation of  the  Church,  usually  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee that  had  the  work  in  hand,  and  it  was  not  until 
1832  that  a  wise  and  well-matured  body  of  canons  was 
established  by  the  General  Convention.  His  part  in 
regulating  the  judicial  functions  was  not  a  consequence 
of  his  rank  as  presiding  bishop  ;  but  it  was  accorded  to 
him  out  of  respect  for  himself  personally,  and  of  confi- 
dence in  his  skill,  experience,  and  impartiality. 

While  the  Convention  of  1 789  did  not  complete  the 
organization  of  every  detail  in  the  polity  and  discipline 
and  worship  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  all  its  leading 
principles  were  practically  established  and  in  force 
when  it  adjourned.  Speaking  generally,  it  could  be 
said  that  the  new  Anglican  communion  in  America  had 
completed  its  outfit  and  was  in  proper  working  order. 

It  is  interesting  for  a  moment  to  compare  this  work 
of  organization  with  that  which  proceeded  at  the  same 
time  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  under  the  lead  of 
Dr.  Carroll,  who  was  at  first  a  missionary  priest  in 
Maryland,  then  an  Apostolic  Prefect,  and  who  was 
finally  chosen  by  the  Roman  priests  in  Maryland  as 
the  first  Bishop  of  Baltimore.  This  took  place  in 
1789.  He  was  consecrated  in  Lul worth,  England,  by 
the  Right  Rev.  Charles  Walmesley,  then  senior  Vicar- 
Apostolic  of  England,  on  the  feast  of  Assumption, 
August  15,  1790.  All  the  time  that  Bishop  White  was 
preparing  the  way  for  the  organization  of  the  Anglican 


AN  INDEPENDENT  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.     67 

churches  estabhshed  in  America  under  the  complete 
control  and  direction  of  the  Episcopacy,  Dr.  Carroll, 
established  at  Baltimore,  and  occupying  a  similar  posi- 
tion, as  the  foremost  Roman  priest  in  the  United  States, 
was  urging  that  the  Roman  Catholics,  both  clergy  and 
laity,  might  be  placed  under  a  diocesan  bishop,  who 
should  bring  the  entire  Roman  Catholic  communion  in 
the  United  States  within  proper  ecclesiastical  direction. 
Between  Bishop  White  and  Bishop  Carroll,  though  they 
were  never  intimate  with  one  another,  there  was  much 
in  the  circumstances  of  their  ecclesiastical  work  that 
was  similar.       Both    had  to   proceed  with  great  cau- 
tion lest  they  should  arouse  political  animosity ;  both 
were  placed  in   situations  where  the  oversight  of  the 
churches  at  large  was  almost  forced  upon  them  before 
they  had  the  right  to  act  with  authority ;  both  were 
modest  men,  not  given  to  self-seeking,   but  brought 
into   prominence    because   of  their  recognized  fitness 
for  the  work  which  they  were  appointed  to  do ;  and 
both  were  supremely  devoted  to  the  great  purpose  of 
organizing    their    respective    bodies  upon  a  true   and 
right    historical    basis.     It   was    given   to    Archbishop 
Carroll  to  live  until  the  autumn   of  18 15,  and  during 
the    thirty-five    years   in  which   he  was    the    foremost 
Roman  CathoUc  prelate  in  the  United  States,  he  made 
his  Church  in  this  country  a  compact,  influential,  and 
progressive  body.     Bishop  White  survived  Archbishop 
Carroll  more  than  twenty  years,  but  the  great  work  of 
his  life  was  completed  when  the  American  Episcopal 
Church  had  been  developed  into  a  good  working  or- 
ganization.    There  were  many  other  things  for  which 


68  BISHOP  WHITE. 

he  was  distinguished  in  the  future  development  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  the  outgrowth  of  his  commanding 
influence  in  its  early  shaping ;  but  these  were  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  his  position,  and  the  further  evidence  of 
his  wise  and  statesmanlike  qualities. 


PHILADELPHIA   A    CENTURY  AGO.  69 


CHAPTER   V. 

PHILADELPHIA   A    CENTURY    AGO. 

In  1 790,  when  the  national  government  was  removed 
from  New  York  to  Philadelphia,  the  latter  was  the 
wealthiest  and  largest  city  in  the  country.  It  then 
contained  about  seventy  thousand  inhabitants,  and  re- 
presented a  Swedish,  German,  Irish,  and  English  popu- 
lation. Philadelphia  was  at  that  time  the  only  place 
of  importance  in  Pennsylvania.  Some  settlements 
were  established  in  the  neighbourhood,  but  in  very  few 
of  them  were  there  enough  people  of  any  one  reli- 
gious faith  to  support  a  clergyman.  At  this  time  there 
were  only  three  or  four  Episcopal  Churches  in  Phila- 
delphia itself,  but  they  included  then,  as  now,  a  large 
portion  of  the  people  of  wealth  and  refinement  and 
position.  The  choice  of  the  city  as  the  location  of 
the  national  government  during  the  administration  of 
Washington  gave  it  a  fresh  impulse,  and  the  inhabitants 
submitted  to  heavy  taxes  upon  their  resources  to  meet 
the  new  conditions.  With  comparatively  few  excep- 
tions, there  were  no  people  of  wealth  in  the  American 
States.  Washington  and  Bishop  White  were  at  that 
time  two  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  the  country,  and 
perhaps   the  two  who  had  the  least  desire  to  make  a 


70  BISHOP   WHITE. 

display  of  it  or  to  exact  any  deference  on  account  of  it 
from  their  fellow  citizens. 

When  Washington  came  to  Philadelphia  a  presiden- 
tial mansion  was  procured  for  him  by  the  citizens  at 
great  expense ;  but  he  declined  to  live  in  it,  and  hired 
a  house  at  ^3,000  a  year  of  Robert  Morris,  the  brother- 
in-law  of  Bishop  White,  near  the  corner  of  High  and 
Sixth  streets,  where  he  could  live  with  the  plainness 
and  simplicity  which  he  felt  to  be  most  becoming  in  an 
American  citizen  who  was  setting  an  example  for  the 
nation.  The  gentry  in  Philadelphia  made  the  most  of 
the  government  socially,  and  imitated  as  far  as  they 
could  the  court  habits  of  London  and  Paris  in  dress 
and  equipage  and  manners.  The  lines  between  them  and 
the  traders  and  the  common  people  were  very  sharply 
drawn.  None  but  the  gentry  were  expected  to  wear 
calfskin  shoes  ;  there  were  but  few  four-wheel  carriages, 
and  Washington  in  his  coach  drawn  by  six  horses  was 
the  only  person  in  the  nation  who  was  expected  to  sup- 
port such  a  style,  and  it  was  out  of  respect  to  his 
office  as  President,  not  from  any  private  wishes,  that 
he  maintained  it.  Dignity  and  moderation  were  ob- 
servable in  all  that  he  did,  —  in  his  social  entertain- 
ments, in  his  personal  bearing,  and  in  his  public 
relations. 

Bishop  White,  who  then  virtually  stood  forth  as  the 
first  person  in  the  Episcopal  Church  in  North  America, 
was  in  Philadelphia  only  second  in  prominence  and 
position  to  President  Washington.  The  two  men  were 
in  close  and  confidential  relations.  The  Bishop  was 
constantly  invited  to  be  present  at  the  dinners  of  state 


PHILADELPHIA   A    CENTURY  AGO.  Jl 

given  by  Washington,  and  his  residence  on  Walnut 
street  was  the  only  place  where  the  President  and 
his  wife  allowed  themselves  to  make  a  social  call. 
Bishop  White  was  a  Federalist,  and  a  man  of  strong 
political  convictions,  which  he  did  not  hesitate  to  ex- 
press whenever  the  occasion  called  for  it.  When  Dr. 
White  was  appointed  chaplain  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress his  brother-in-law  said,  "  If  he  accepts  it,"  he  drew 
his  hand  across  his  throat  and  added,  "  he  will  be 
hung."  This  did  not  in  the  least  deter  him  from  doing 
what  he  thought  to  be  his  duty.  The  intimacy  between 
him  and  Washington  was  all  the  greater  because  they 
were  limited  in  their  spheres  of  action.  One  could 
not  interfere  with  the  other.  Then,  too,  the  relation 
was  that  of  a  parishioner  to  his  pastor.  Bishop  White 
retained  the  rectorship  of  Christ  and  St.  Peter's 
churches  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  in  his 
prime  when  Robert  Morris  occupied  the  pew  next  to 
the  pulpit  in  old  Christ  Church,  and  when  W^ashington 
sat  in  the  pew  next  to  him  and  used  to  drive  up  through 
the  archway  and  enter  the  edifice  by  the  side  door. 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  Francis  Hopkinson  were  also 
parishioners  at  that  time,  and  the  beautiful  chimes  and 
the  mitre  on  the  spire  and  the  modest  elegance  of 
the  building  made  it  the  most  conspicuous  and  notable 
place  of  worship  in  the  city.  Alexander  Hamilton 
must  have  often  been  a  worshipper  at  that  time,  and 
the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  had  his  official  pew  in 
the  gallery  near  to  the  chancel.  The  place  was  already 
notable  for  what  had  taken  place  in  it.  In  the  vestry 
Seabury  and  White  had  revised  the  Communion  Office 


72  BISHOP  WHITE. 

in  1789,  introducing  the  prayer  of  consecration  from 
the  Scotch  ritual  without  which  Bishop  Seabury  would 
not  call  it  faithful  to  the  principles  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  which  Dr.  William  Smith  read  so  well  to  the 
General  Convention  assembled  in  the  church,  of  which 
he  was  president,  that  they  accepted  it  without  any 
hesitation.  Here  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  state  were 
forgotten  by  the  leaders  of  the  new  government,  while 
they  assembled  under  the  direction  of  Bishop  White  to 
worship  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth ;  and  here  the 
piety  and  the  fashion  of  the  first  city  in  the  land  found 
devout  and  congenial  expression. 

Washington  was  not  himself  a  communicant  of  the 
Church,  though  his  wife  was  a  devout  and  constant  re- 
ceiver of  the  sacraments.  He  was  a  deeply  religious 
man,  and  at  his  own  table,  in  the  absence  of  a  clergy- 
man, always  said  grace  standing.  He  never  allowed 
religious  discussion,  or  at  least  never  indulged  in  it 
himself,  and  neither  he  nor  Bishop  White  ever  broke 
the  reserve  in  which  they  treated  matters  of  personal 
religion.  To  each  of  them  religion  in  the  inner  life 
was  something  sacred  and  to  be  treated  with  great  re- 
serve. This  did  not  mean  the  absence  of  devotion  or 
any  want  of  thoughtfulness  in  these  matters.  It  indi- 
cated that  in  an  age  of  cant  there  were  two  persons, 
high  in  office  and  foremost  citizens  of  a  great  nation, 
who  had  the  courage  to  set  an  example  of  the  highest 
meaning  to  others  in  their  expression  of  the  relations 
of  the  soul  to  God.  The  reserve  which  both  main- 
tained in  their  religious  life  was  characteristic  of  them 
to  a  great  extent  in  all  their  intercourse  with  their  fel- 


PHILADELPHIA   A    CENTURY  AGO.  73 

lowmen.  This  does  not  mean  that  they  were  always 
grave  and  serious.  They  knew  how  to  be  affable  and 
communicative  to  others,  but  beyond  their  family  ties 
neither  of  them  had  many  correspondents  to  whom 
they  wrote  freely  about  the  things  in  which  they  were 
interested.  For  this  reason,  the  lives  of  each  have  to 
be  treated  largely  from  the  outside.  It  is  what  they 
were  engaged  in  and  the  way  in  which  they  met  their 
duties  and  the  spirit  which  they  brought  into  life  that 
chiefly  interest  us.  There  are  no  asides,  no  looking 
into  the  inner  man,  no  hours  of  agony  or  moments  of 
triumph,  and  the  biographer  of  both  is  obliged  to  re- 
sort to  special  methods  for  presenting  them  not  only  in 
the  spirit  in  which  they  discharged  the  duties  of  public 
office  but  in  the  freedom  of  private  life. 

Such  men  give  their  strength  to  mankind,  to  the 
causes  and  interests  through  which  the  world  advances. 
It  will  not  be  amiss  if  the  reader  is  asked  to  compare 
the  situations  of  these  two  men  in  their  positions  in 
the  State  and  in  the  Church.  There  was  no  connection 
between  the  two  institutions,  but  each  was  new  in  its 
organization  and  each  demanded  men  of  nerve,  silence, 
and  courage  at  the  head  of  affairs.  Washington  was 
then  in  the  height  of  his  career.  The  man  who  had 
been  aptly  called  "the  Father  of  his  country"  had 
been  elected  to  be  the  head  of  the  new  government. 
The  Constitution  had  been  accepted  in  the  different 
States  with  difficulty,  if  not  resisted,  and  people  were 
in  constant  danger  of  forgetting  what  the  Revolution 
had  cost,  and  what  the  nation  stood  for  as  a  whole. 
There  were  two  views  of  the  way  in  which  the  country 


74  BISHOP   WHITE. 

should  be  governed,  the  Federal  view,  and  the  Repub- 
lican, or,  as  it  came  to  be  later,  the  Democratic  view. 
It  was  either  a  government  which  had  central  power 
enough  to  compel  obedience  to  its  principles,  or  a  gov- 
ernment which  could  only  be  the  expression  of  the 
political  principles  of  the  sovereign  States.  Washing- 
ton could  take  but  one  view  of  the  situation.  He  had 
fought  for  the  whole  country,  and  had  made  greater 
sacrifices  for  its  independence  and  its  unity  than  any 
other  citizen. 

It  was  his  privilege  and  his  duty  to  stand  up  for 
unity  of  action,  and  for  the  principles  which  Hamilton 
and  Madison  had  put  forth  in  the  "  FederaHst."  There 
was,  however,  a  strong  and  jealous  feeling  among  many 
men,  of  whom  Jefferson  was  the  leader,  that  the  en- 
croachments of  Federal  power  must  be  resisted  and 
repressed  at  every  step.  This  made  the  government 
bitterly  partisan  from  the  beginning,  and  much  as  Wash- 
ington was  beloved  and  revered  by  the  people  nothing 
too  bitter  could  be  said  against  him  by  the  politicians. 
He  realized  while  President  the  truth  of  the  words 
that  a  prophet  is  not  without  honour  save  in  his  own 
country  and  among  his  own  kith  and  kin.  This  did 
not  cause  him  to  swerve  from  duty,  but  it  made  his 
position  irksome  and  wearying  to  one  who  preferred 
his  quiet  life  at  Mount  Vernon  before  all  the  emolu- 
ments of  high  station.  The  following  anecdote  con- 
cerning Washington  is  related  by  the  Bishop  :  — 

"  On  the  day  before  his  leaving  of  the  Presidential  chair 
a  large  company  dined  with  him.  Among  them  were  the 
foreign  ministers  and  their  ladies,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adams, 


PHILADELPHIA   A    CENTURY  AGO.  75 

Mr.  Jefferson,  with  other  conspicuous  persons  of  both  sexes, 
During  the  dinner  hiuch  hilarity  prevailed,  but  on  the  re- 
moval of  the  cloth  it  was  put  an  end  to  by  the  President, 
certainly  without  design.  Having  filled  his  glass,  he  ad- 
dressed the  company  with  a  smile  on  his  countenance, 
as  nearly  as  can  be  recollected,  in  the  following  terms  : 
'  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  is  the  last  time  I  shall  drink 
your  health  as  a  public  man.  I  do  it  with  sincerity,  and 
wishing  you  all  possible  happiness.'  There  was  an  end  of 
all  pleasantry.  He  who  gives  this  relation  accidentally 
directed  his  eye  to  the  lady  of  the  British  minister,  Mrs. 
Liston,  and  tears  were  running  down  her  cheeks."  ^ 

Within  a  few  days  before  his  second  term  expired 
the  vestry  of  Christ  Church  waited  on  him  with  an 
address  prepared  and  delivered  by  the  Bishop,  to 
which  he  answered  that  he  had  been  gratified  by  what 
he  had  heard  from  that  pulpit,  but  he  committed  him- 
self to  nothing  more. 

Bishop  White  had  a  more  limited  sphere  to  work 
in  than  Washington  had.  It  was  entirely  ecclesias- 
tical, but  it  had  many  points  of  likeness  with  the 
new  political  regime.  The  situation  has  already  been 
described.  The  feebleness  of  the  churches  after  the 
Revolution  was  great.  Outside  of  Boston,  New  York, 
and  Philadelphia  hardly  one  was  self-supporting.  When 
the  aid  of  the  venerable  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  was  withdrawn  at  the  end  of  the  war,  not 
only  were  many  of  the  clergy  either  dead  or  living 
elsewhere,  but  the  parishes  were  in  a  weak  and  help- 
less condition,  and  none  of  them  appreciated,  or  had 

1  Dr.  Wilson's  Memoir,  p.  192. 


76  BISHOP  WHITE. 

ever  known  by  experience,  the  advantage  of  working 
together.  It  was  as  difficult  for  Bishop  White  to  bring 
these  unrelated  congregations  together  as  it  was  for 
Washington  and  Franklin  to  persuade  the  thirteen 
original  States  to  act  in  concert.  The  same  sort  of 
quiet  and  calm  statesmanship  required  in  the  one  case 
was  needed  in  the  other.  It  was  with  the  utmost 
difficulty  that  Bishop  White  persuaded  the  imperious 
Seabury  to  concede  some  of  his  strong  and  justifiable 
positions  as  a  Churchman,  while  it  was  even  more  difficult 
for  him  to  deal  with  the  clergy  and  laity  in  many  quar- 
ters, who  feared  that,  if  the  Church  were  properly  or- 
ganized under  the  bishops,  they  would  be  deprived  of 
their  freedom  of  living  as  they  pleased.  It  was  nothing 
short  of  the  firmness  and  determination,  which  are 
often  concealed  under  the  forms  of  gentleness  and  the 
seeming  to  yield,  that  enabled  Bishop  White  to  gather 
the  scattered  fragments  of  the  American  Church  at 
that  time  to  a  point  where  the  clergy  and  laity  were 
willing  to  act  together.  The  years  of  greatest  weak- 
ness in  the  Episcopal  Church  were  precisely  the  years 
during  which  the  American  nation  passed  through 
at  Philadelphia  its  trysting  period  under  President 
Washington. 


BISHOP^  WHITE  AS  A   MAN.  77 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BISHOP   WHITE    AS    A    M.\N. 

From  the  year  1770  when  Mrs.  White  records  that 
on  April  12th  she  "let  Billy  have  to  pay  the  Hebrew 
master  £1,'"  and  that  on  May  nth  she  let  Billy  have 
another  £\  for  the  same  purpose,  her  son  may  be  said 
to  have  fomid  his  vocation  ;  and  he  never  lost  it.     One 
would  have  picked  Bishop  White  out  on  the  streets, 
although  a  perfect  stranger  to  him,  as  an  ecclesiastic. 
He  was  over  six  feet  in  height ;  in  early  life  he  had  a 
ruddy  face  and  full  cheeks,  but  in  later  years  was  always 
something  less  than  fleshy,  though  a  man  of  hardy  and 
robust  constitution.     He  was  never  sick  a  day  in  his 
life  until  he  took  his  bed  in   his  eighty-ninth  year  to 
die,  and  then   the  end  was  simply  the  winding  up  of 
life  on  account  of  old  age.     His  height  was  largely  due 
to  his  long  legs,  which  were  always  covered  up  to  the 
knees  with  black  silk  stockings ;   and  when  friends  re- 
monstrated with   him    in  his  old  age   that  the  calves 
of  his  legs  were  not  as  full  as  they  once  were,  he  still 
declined    to    alter    his    style    of  dress.     At  home    he 
always  wore  in  summer  a  silk  dressing-gown ;    in  the 
winter  he  put  on  a  camlet  cloak  whenever  he  went  out. 
He  made  his  own  fire  up  to  the  last  of  his  life,  and  was 
res^ular  and  methodical  in  his  habits.     He  never  went 


78  BISHOP   WHITE. 

out  of  town  in  summer.  In  his  younger  days  he  was 
spoken  of  as  being  very  handsome  ;  and  a  woman  once 
said  to  a  relative  of  his,  when  the  Bishop  was  preaching 
during  an  evening  service  at  Christ  Church,  "  Becky, 
come  out  at  once  to  church ;  your  cousin  is  in  the 
pulpit  and  looks  like  an  angel  !  " 

The    Bishop   was    a   hearty   eater,  and   liked    good 
things.     He  was  fond  of  mince-pies,  and  used  to  but- 
ter them.     In  fact,  he  treated  his  bread  as  if  it  were 
furnished  him  for  the  sake  of  the  butter  that  might  be 
consumed  with  it.     Old  Dr.  Chapman  used  to  say  to 
him  :   "  I  believe  if  you  could  swallow  ten-penny  nails 
you  would  digest  them."     His  love  of  good  food  was 
the  secret  of  his  long  life,  but  one  of  his  habits  was 
anything  but  temperate.     He  liked  green  tea,  as  black 
as  lye,  and  insisted  on  having  it.     It  must  be  as  strong 
as  it  could  be  made.    At  his  home  there  was  scarcely  a 
meal  at  which  he  did  not  have  a  guest,  though  he  never 
knew  what  it  was  to  spend  his  time  with  boon   com- 
panions.    He  always  dined  at  two  o'clock.     He  drank 
two  glasses  of  wine,  and  never  went  beyond  this  hmit, 
at  this  meal ;  he  used  to  smoke  one  or  two  cigars  after 
dinner.     The  early  death  of  his  wife  in  1779  did  not 
break  up   his  home,  which  was  lovingly  cared  for  by 
members  of  his  family  until  his  oldest  daughter  was 
able  to  take  charge  of  it ;  and  he  found  in  the  society 
of  his  children  and  that  of  his  grandchildren  much  of 
the   solace   and   recreation  of  his   life.     He    used    to 
spend  most  of  his   time   in  his  study,  but  after  nine 
o'clock  in  the  evening  he  always  came  downstairs  for 
an  hour  with  the  family.     He  liked  to  have  his  grand- 


BISHOP   WHITE   AS  A   MAN.  79 

children  dance,  though  he  would  never  allow  them  to 
waltz.  He  used  to  smoke  a  solitary  cigar,  drink  one 
glass  of  sherry,  and  eat  two  roasted  apples  every  night 
before  retiring.  One  of  his  family  says  :  ''  The  only 
way  we  could  tell  that  he  was  not  well  was  when  he 
left  oif  his  cigar.  He  delighted  in  the  evening  to  have 
his  grandchildren  rub  his  hair  behind  his  ears,  which 
he  called  teaseling,  and  to  rub  his  silk  stockings  before 
a  hot  open  fire.  He  never  wore  a  wig,  as  the  fashion 
was,  but  powdered  his  hair."  One  of  his  friends,  a 
lady  often  in  his  company,  picked  up  every  hair  that 
fell  from  his  long  locks,  and  finally  collected,  unknown 
to  him,  quite  a  good-sized  lock  of  his  hair.  This  shows 
how  he  was  venerated.  He  was  not  only  liked  by  his 
own  Church  people,  but  beloved  by  all  denominations. 
He  was  always  spoken  of  as  "  Our  Bishop." 

He  never  asserted  himself  in  conversation.  He  bore 
himself  with  a  quiet  dignity.  In  this  respect  he  con- 
trasted sharply  with  Bishop  Seabury,  who  had  natu- 
rally an  aggressive  and  confident  manner.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  Church  he  was  in  favour  of  introducing  what 
would  now  be  called  the  provincial  system ;  but  he 
was  strongly  opposed  to  the  creation  of  an  archbish- 
opric, though  he  would  most  likely  have  been  ap- 
pointed archbishop,  had  the  arrangement  of  provinces 
been  introduced.     Dr.  Bird  Wilson  says  :  — 

"  In  his  intercourse  with  his  family  and  relatives  he 
manifested  an  affection  tender,  constant,  and  judicious  ; 
and  he  received  from  all  of  them  the  reverence  and  attach- 
ment so  justly  due.  His  general  social  intercourse  was 
distinguished  by  benevolence  and  urbanity,  flowing  from  a 


8o  BISHOP    WHITE. 

heart  disposed  to  promote  the  happiness  and  gratification 
of  all  around  him.  With  these  he  possessed  a  delicacy  of 
feeling  which  made  him  instinctively  shrink  from  anything 
that  might  wound  the  feelings  of  others.  His  society  was 
sought  by  old  and  young,  and  by  each  sex.  His  conversa- 
tion, in  which  he  readily  and  freely  engaged  and  took 
pleasure,  was  cheerful,  animated  and  full  of  anecdotes  re- 
lating to  interesting  scenes  which  he  had  himself  beheld  at 
different  periods  of  his  hfe,  and  to  the  numerous  persons 
of  distinction  with  whom  he  had  formerly  been  acquainted. 
For  his  memory  was  retentive  and  accurate  :  not  only  with 
respect  to  facts  occurring  in  early  life,  which  is  not  uncom- 
mon in  aged  men ;  but  also  to  .those  of  more  recent  occur- 
rence, which  is  more  unusual. 

"Religion  was  readily  made  the  topic  of  conversation 
whenever  an  occasion  offered  appearing  to  promise  good 
from  the  introduction   of  its  truths.     But  it  was  contrary 
to  his  principles,  and  thought  by  him  injudicious  and  seldom 
productive  of  beneficial  results,  to  press  them  constantly 
into  notice,  without  regard  to  suitable  opportunities.     The 
deportment  of  all  towards  him  was  easy  and  unrestrained, 
but  respectful  and  affectionate  ;  the  dignity  of  his  character 
and  manners  repressing  any  approach  to  undue  familiarity. 
With  all  this  mildness  and  suavity  he  could,  when  the  oc- 
casion demanded,  reprove  with  severity,  —  with  great  skill, 
in  consequence  of  his  correct  knowledge  and  judgment  of 
the  principles  of  human  nature,  and   with  much   efiicacy, 
either  by  words,  or  by  marked  silence  and  disapprobation, 
or  other  indications  of  his  sentiments.     Such  a  deportment 
and  such  dispositions  and  character  attracted,  as  they  were 
naturally  adapted  to  do,  the  friendship  and  affection  of  all 
who  knew  him.     No  man,  probably,  could  be  more  free 
than  he  was  from  experiencing  the   enmity  of  others,  or 
more  remote  from  enmity  to  them.     It  was  remarked  that 
he  had  no  enemies,  and  was  well  spoken  of  by  all ;  and  for 
this  last  reason  his  friend  and  intimate,  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush, 


BISHOP   WHITE  AS  A   MAN.  8 1 

denounced  against  him  (humorously)  the  woe  pronounced 
in  the  Gospel,  because  all  men  spake  well  of  him  ! 

"  He  thought  it  not  inconsistent  with  his  sacred  office  to 
be  present  at  and  partake  of  the  public  dinners  on  anniver- 
sary festivals  or  other  celebrations.  I  was  once  informed 
by  him,  in  the  course  of  a  conversation  at  a  late  period  of 
his  life,  of  his  reasons  for  so  doing.  He  believed  it  called 
for  by  his  public  station  ;  that  it  tended  to  check  impro- 
prieties, and  also  led  to  opportunities  of  usefulness  which 
he  should  not  otherwise  have  obtained.  But  he  early 
formed  a  resolution  that  if  he  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy 
he  should  consider  himself  at  liberty  to  decline  them.  To 
this  resolution  he  accordingly  afterwards  adhered. 

"  Towards  Christians  of  other  denominations  Dr.  White 
was  tolerant  and  liberal;  and  with  many  of  them  he  sus- 
tained a  friendly  and  intimate  intercourse.  This  did  not 
require  any  sacrifice  of  religious  truth,  or  disregard  or 
neglect  of  the  interests  of  his  own  Church  ;  nor  was  he 
capable  of  either.  His  moderation  did  not  proceed  from 
indifference.  He  was  firm  in  maintaining  what  he  deemed 
religious  truth,  and  in  an  enlightened  attachment  to  the 
Episcopal  Church.  Both  in  these  respects,  and  in  the 
course  pursued  by  him  in  the  affairs  of  his  own  Commu- 
nion, moderation  and  firmness  harmonized  in  an  unusual 
degree;  though  it  might  sometimes  be  thought  that  they 
apparently  interfered ;  only,  however,  in  cases  in  which  he 
avoided  pressing  an  approved  principle,  because  he  thought 
the  occasion  unfavourable,  and  expected  that  one  more  pro- 
pitious would  occur.  He  felt  and  showed  a  proper  defer- 
ence and  respect  for  the  opinions  of  others  ;  and  was 
deliberate  and  cautious  in  forming  his  own ;  but  when 
once  formed,  they  were  steadily  adhered  to  and  acted 
upon. 

"  The  mildness  and  candour  of  the  Bishop's  disposition 

were  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  spirit  prevailing  in  his 

controversial  writings.     These  were  whollv  free  from  the 

6 


82  BISHOP    WHITE. 

least  infusion  of  animosity,  bitterness,  sarcasm,  or  unfair- 
ness in  the  statement  of  the  opinions  or  motives  of  ad- 
versaries, by  which  -  such  writings  are  too  generally 
distinguished.  Probably  they  may  be  less  pleasing  to 
many  readers  for  the  want  of  those  properties ;  some  of 
which,  at  least,  are  thought  to  add  to  the  animation  and  in- 
terest of  controversy.  But  they  are  more  honourable  to  his 
character  and  Christian  feeHngs;  the  more  so,  because 
theological  controversy  is  so  apt  to  excite  unfriendly  and 
violent  emotions  even  in  those  who,  on  all  other  occasions, 
manifest  a  truly  Christian  temper.  Candour,  urbanity,  and 
the  love  of  truth  are  preserved  throughout  his  works.  The 
support  of  sound  and  correct  principles,  and  not  victory  or 
the  display  of  intellectual  ability  or  learning,  was  his  uni- 
form object,  —  which  he  sought  to  attain  by  just  argument, 
without  resort  to  misrepresentation  or  invective. 

"  Modesty  and  humility  appeared  in  his  whole  Hfe  and 
conversation,  in  his  deportment  in  every  station.  Pos- 
sessed of  an  unusual  degree  of  personal  influence,  and  of 
acknowledged  eminence,  he  was  perfectly  unassuming,  and 
apparently  unconscious,  certainly  unostentatious,  of  both. 
Both  also  were  received  unsought ;  and  both  were  probably 
much  increased  by  this  very  cause.  He  even  felt  pain  at 
receiving  compliments  on  his  own  usefulness  or  attain- 
ments ;  though  they  were  not  designed  merely  as  such,  or 
uttered  in  his  presence,  but  expressed  with  sincerity  and 
truth  in  letters  or  publications.  As  a  specimen  of  this 
may  be  adduced  the  following  remark  in  a  letter  to  Bishop 
Hobart  [loth  of  August,  1808],  who  had,  in  a  review  of  his 
Episcopal  charge  of  1807,  spoken  highly  of  his  theological 
learning  and  abiUties  :  '  As  a  reviewer  I  think  you  too  long 
in  your  extracts  from  my  charge.  If  you  go  on  so,  it  will 
take  up  too  much  of  your  room.  I  take  well  your  gentle 
castigations ;  which  I  could  answer,  but  have  not  time. 
It  gave  me  less  concern  than  the  stroking  which  preceded. 
Be  assured  I  felt  a  painful  sensation  on  reading  of  my  "  ex- 


BISHOP    WHITE   AS  A   MAN.  ^l 

tensive  and  deep  theological  erudition ;  "  for,  if  I  thought 
myself,  as  I  do  not,  possessed  of  talents  for  it,  circum- 
stances have  not  permitted  my  being  enough  in  my  study 
for  the  acquisition.'  To  these  estimable  features  may  be 
added  great  innocency  and  purity  of  mind  and  manners, 
shining  forth  in  his  whole  deportment,  as  if  he  were  un- 
conscious of  evil. 

"  His  conduct  in  every  situation,  even  the  most  unex- 
pected and  trying,  evinced  distinguished  Christian  pru- 
dence. This  virtue  had  full  scope  for  exercise  and 
probation,  in  the  various  situations  in  which  he  was  from 
time  to  time  placed,  by  the  incidents  connected  with  the 
government  and  affairs  of  the  Church  over  which  he  pre- 
sided, and  by  his  frequent  intercourse  with  those  of  other 
denominations.  By  it  he  was  enabled,  without  abandoning 
any  principle  deemed  correct  by  himself  or  his  own  Church, 
to  preserve  harmony  of  feeling  and  intercourse  with  others, 
and  obtain  their  respect  and  friendship.  And  an  intellec- 
tual quality,  possessed  by  him  in  a  very  eminent  degree, 
and  improved  by  close  observation  and  experience,  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  good  results  of  that  prudence,  and 
to  the  increase  of  his  usefulness  to  the  Church,  —  I  mean 
his  accurate  discrimination  of  the  characters  of  men,  in 
which  he  was  seldom  mistaken  when  he  had  reasonable 
opportunities  of  forming  a  judgment.  He  was  not  hasty 
or  rash  in  adopting  his  opinion,  or  disposed  to  entertain 
prejudices,  or  to  persevere  in  a  mistaken  judgment.  The 
most  perfect  candour  towards  all  was  his  aim  and  desire. 

"Being  placed  in  a  very  extensive  parish,  as  well  as  in  a 
large  diocese,  his  active  duties  were  numerous  and  arduous, 
and  necessarily  occupied  much  of  his  time.  Yet  he  was 
enabled  to  devote  much  time  also  to  the  labours  of  his 
study.  It  has  often  excited  surprise  that  he  was  able  to  effect 
so  much.  But  the  causes  were  his  great  and  unintermitted 
industry  ;  his  exact  method  in  the  employment  of  his  time ; 
his  strict  punctuality  in  complying  with  every  engagement 


84  BISHOP    WHITE. 

(for  which  he  was  remarkable,  and  often  produced  the  Hke 
habit  in  those  with  whom  he  had  intercourse  in  busi- 
ness) ;  the  ease  with  which  he  could  fix  his  mind  intently 
on  the  subject  before  him;  and  the  clearness  and  rapidity 
of  his  conception.  These  habits  and  powers  continued 
unimpaired  until  his  last  illness. 

"In  relieving  distress,  and  in  other  exercises  of  charity, 
he  was  benevolent  and  liberal.  Yet  his  revenues  were  not 
large ;  his  family  became  numerous  ;  and  his  station  ex- 
posed him  to  many  unavoidable  expenses.  His  income 
from  his  parish  was  about  twenty-two  or  twenty-three  hun- 
dred dollars.  As  bishop  he  received  nothing  except  the 
interest  on  Mr.  Andrew  Doz's  legacy,  of  about  four  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  was  the  first  foundation  of  the  Episco- 
pal fund  of  the  diocese  ;  and  he  was  frequently  obliged  to 
defray  himself  the  expense  of  visiting  different  churches. 
He  had  however  a  respectable,  but  not  large,  private 
estate.  The  mention  of  this  subject  suggests  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  remark  made  in  a  daily  publication  in  Philadel- 
phia, shortly  after  his  death.  Referring  to  the  notice  in 
the  London  papers  of  that  event,  and  of  the  comparative 
mediocrity  of  his  salary,  the  editor  said  :  '  Bishop  White 
enjoyed  a  revenue  beyond  a  monarch's  command ;  his 
daily  income  was  beyond  human  computation.  If  he  went 
forth,  age  paid  the  tribute  of  affectionate  respect,  and 
children  "  rose  up  and  called  him  blessed.'"  The  general 
sentiment  applauded  and  concurred  with  the  just  and  beau- 
tiful commendation."  ^ 

There  is  yet  more  to  be  said  of  his  characteristics  as 
a  man.  His  manner  to  inferior  people  was  that  of  a 
gentleman  of  the  old  school.  He  always  took  off  his 
hat  to  them,  when  they  took  off  their  hats  to  him. 
His  grandson   once   said  to  him  :   "  Why  do   you   do 

1  Dr.  Wilson's  Memoir,  pp.  276-283. 


BISHOP   WHITE   AS  A   MAN.  85 

this?"  "My  child,  would  you  have  them  polite  to 
me,  and  I  not  to  them?"  Mr.  John  Sergeant  said: 
"  There  will  never  be  but  one  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania 
who  will  be  known  as  the  Bishop."  Mr.  Robert  Walsh 
was  at  his  house  every  day,  and  used  to  keep  him  well 
informed  in  all  political  matters.  He  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  politics,  always  voted,  and  would  stand  in  line 
waiting  for  his  turn.  His  presence  there  had  a  salu- 
tary influence.  Once  he  went  with  his  dignified  step 
to  the  polls  and  found  them  manned  by  a  disputing 
multitude,  fighting  for  access  to  the  window.  The 
moment  it  was  whispered,  "  Bishop  White  is  coming," 
a  lane  was  opened  by  the  contending  factions,  and 
the  venerable  prelate  walked  through  and  deposited 
his  vote ;  the  cessation  of  action  continued  until  he 
had  repassed  the  lines,  and  the  result  on  the  crowd 
was  striking  and  beneficial'  for  a  considerable  length 
of  time.  He  was  alive  to  all  that  was  going  on  in 
his  country  and  in  Philadelphia,  and  he  kept  up  this 
interest  until  his  old  age.  He  used  a  carriage  until 
late  in  Hfe,  and  had  the  front  seat  taken  out  of  it  in 
order  to  give  his  legs,  which  were  unduly  long,  ample 
room.  He  was  an  early  riser,  usually  getting  up  before 
any  one  else  in  the  family.  He  persisted  in  preaching 
down  to  the  very  last  of  his  life.  When  a  parishioner 
offered  him  his  sympathy  in  trying  to  preach  in  his 
old  age,  saying,  "Isn't  it  hard  for  you  to  preach?" 
he  replied  :  "  Oh,  no  ;  the  trouble  is  with  your  ears  !  " 
He  was  much  with  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  Franklin's 
daughter,  at  her  father's  request,  gave  him  the  American 
Prayer-book  for  which  Franklin  wrote  a  preface. 


86  BISHOP   WHITE. 

Every  man,  woman,  and  child  paid  attention  to  the 
Bishop  as  if  he  belonged  to  them,  and  he  could  never 
walk  through  the  streets  without  constant  interruption 
from  the  people  who  insisted  upon  showing  him  their 
respect.  He  never  minded  the  weather,  and  he  led  a 
very  regular  life.  He  was  frequently  invited  to  the 
city  dancing  assemblies,  though  he  never  participated 
in  them.  Up  to  seventy  years  of  age,  he  used  to  go  to 
dinner  parties ;  then  he  stopped  and  said :  "  The  old 
man  has  done  his  duty."  He  was  always  to  be  found 
in  his  study,  where  he  usually  spent  his  mornings,  with 
a  book  on  his  lap.  He  wrote  his  sermons  standing 
up,  in  a  large,  clear,  and  scholar's  hand.  One  can 
read  them  even  to-day  almost  as  easily  as  if  they  were 
in  type.  His  literary  industry  was  something  remark- 
able. There  was  only  one  important  work  of  his 
which  was  not  published  during  his  lifetime,  and  of 
this  he  said  :  "■  If  anything  is  ever  published  after  my 
death,  I  would  rather  have  the  answer  to  Barclay's 
Apology  brought  out  than  anything  else."  The  reason 
why  this  work  has  never  been  brought  out  is  not  that 
it  is  not  a  valuable  treatise,  —  something  in  the  style 
of  Hooker's  ^'Ecclesiastical  Polity,"  —  but  that  the 
Quakers,  against  whose  religious  views  it  was  written, 
have  so  far  declined  in  numbers  and  in  importance, 
that  it  would  be  to-day  simply  of  historical  value. 
Bishop  White  had  to  suffer  a  great  deal  from  the  im- 
portunity of  the  extremists  of  his  time.  If  he  had  one 
application  to  take  the  temperance  pledge,  he  had  five 
hundred.  His  reply  was  that  he  had  taken  this  pledge 
two  or  three  times  in  his  religious  vows,  and  that  he 


BISHOP    WHITE  AS  A   MAN.  87 

did  not  see  why  he  should  take  it  again.  He  held  that 
when  a  Christian  man  had  promised  to  keep  his  body 
in  soberness,  temperance,  and  chastity,  he  had  gone 
as  far  as  language  permitted  him  to  go. 

It  is  not  difficult  from  these  fragmentary  reminis- 
cences of  his  personality  to  draw  the  inference  that 
<'  he  was  more  of  a  gentleman  than  any  of  his  people  ;  " 
and  that  he  illustrated,  as  Washington  did,  the  highest 
style  of  what  an  American  citizen  ought  to  be  in  the 
early  days  of  our  existence  as  a  nation.  His  appear- 
ance as  a  Bishop  was  dignified  and  striking.  The 
Episcopal  robes  became  him  greatly.  This  is  seen  in 
the  portrait  of  him  by  Gilbert  Stuart,  as  well  as  in  the 
Inman  portrait  which  represents  the  Bishop  in  his  old 
age.  He  liked  to  preach,  and  during  his  long  rector- 
ship of  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's  he  was  always  in 
his  pulpit  in  one  of  these  churches  every  Sunday  morn- 
ing. In  making  his  visitations  as  Bishop  he  always 
preached  to  the  congregation,  and  then  gave  a  short 
address  to  the  candidates  whom  he  had  confirmed. 

Among  the  first  persons  to  receive  confirmation  after 
his  consecration  were  his  wife  and  children.  This 
took  place  at  St.  Peter's  Church,  Philadelphia,  Nov.  10, 
1787,  when  he  held  his  first  confirmation,  and  admin- 
istered the  rite  to  forty-four  persons.  A  month  later, 
in  the  same  year,  he  confirmed  thirty-five  persons  in 
the  same  church.  In  Trinity  parish,  Oxford,  in  1788, 
notable  as  the  first  charge  of  Bishop  Hobart,  who  was 
born  in  Philadelphia  and  educated  for  the  ministry 
under  Bishop  White,  he  confirmed  forty-three.  In 
1805,  on  the  13th  of  May,  sixty-one  were  confirmed  at 


88  BISHOP  WHITE. 

St.  Paul's ;  and  on  the  30th  of  May  in  the  same  year 
sixty-nine  at  St.  Thomas's,  Philadelphia.  The  largest 
class  ever  presented  to  him  was  at  Trinity  Church, 
Swedesborough,  when  two  hundred  and  thirty-three 
persons  were  confirmed  at  one  time.  Again,  on  the 
28th  of  March,  18 12,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
were  presented  to  him  at  St.  Peter's  on  Easter  eve, 
and  at  Christ  Church  on  the  13th  of  April,  18 ii,  being 
Easter  eve,  he  confirmed  one  hundred  and  forty -nine 
persons.  Again,  at  St.  James's,  Philadelphia,  on  the 
17th  of  April,  1 813,  at  Easter  eve,  the  number  rose  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty- one  persons.  Still  further  down 
the  list,  the  record  is  made  that  at  Trinity  Church, 
Wilmington,  on  the  loth  of  October,  18 19,  one  hun- 
dred and  eleven  were  confirmed ;  and  as  late  as  1825, 
at  the  visitation  of  Trinity  parish,  Pittsburgh,  in  the 
month  of  June,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  persons 
received  this  rite.  These  were  among  his  largest 
classes,  though  as  late  as  the  28th  of  March,  1836,  a 
class  of  forty- eight  was  presented  to  him  in  his  own 
parish,  at  Christ  Church.  His  last  confirmation  was 
held  on  the  15  th  of  May,  in  the  same  year,  at  St. 
Andrew's  parish,  where  a  class  of  forty-four  was 
received. 

These  statements  are  given  in  order  to  indicate  the 
state  of  the  Church  at  that  time.  At  one  of  Bishop 
Seabury's  visitations  in  Connecticut  the  largest  con- 
firmation on  record  took  place,  —  four  hundred  and 
seventy-six  persons  were  confirmed  at  one  time.  In 
this  instance  persons  came  from  several  neighbouring 
parishes,  and  it  was  soon  after  Bishop  Seabury's  conse- 


BISHOP   WHITE   AS  A   MAN.  89 

cration,  when,  as  was  often  the  case,  nearly  the  whole 
congregation  received  the  rite  as  the  complement 
of  what  they  had  a  right  to  ask  from  the  Church  and 
had  been  unable  to  obtain.  Often  there  were  persons 
who  objected  to  receiving  confirmation  when  they 
had  been  communicants  all  their  lives,  and  among 
these  was  Bishop  White's  own  mother,  who  could  not 
be  made  to  see  that  submission  to  this  rite,  even  at  her 
son's  hands,  was  necessary  in  her  old  age.  Bishop 
White  confirmed  each  person  separately,  and  always  at 
one  sentence  in  the  confirmation  office  his  voice  broke 
and  he  could  not  control  his  emotion.  In  the  service 
for  the  consecration  of  bishops,  at  the  words,  "  Be  to 
the  flock  of  Christ  a  shepherd,  not  a  wolf,"  his  voice 
broke  in  the  same  way ;  and  he  could  never  read  the 
parable  of  the  prodigal  son  without  betraying  a  similar 
sensibility. 


90  BISHOP    WHITE. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE    DAY    OF    SMALL    BEGINNINGS. 

No  Other  religious  body  in  North  America  had  the 
antecedents  of  the  Episcopal  Church  during  the  colo- 
nial period,  or  had  a  more  unpromising  outlook  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  or  had  more  to  contend 
with  in  the  way  of  growth.  Even  Archbishop  Carroll, 
who  had  a  similar  work  of  gathering  up  fragments  and 
welding  them  into  a  proper  organization,  had  in  some 
respects  less  to  contend  with.  After  the  churches 
had  been  united  in  their  new  organization  and  the 
Episcopate  had  been  secured,  the  whole  company 
North  and  South,  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard^  would 
not  have  made  a  respectable  American  diocese  in  point 
of  wealth  or  numbers,  although  the  personal  influence 
of  Churchmen  in  those  days  was  great  on  account  of 
their  political  and  social  standing.  In  many  of  the 
parishes  the  people  ranked  among  the  foremost  fami- 
lies of  the  country.  This  was  the  case  especially  in 
New  York  and  Newport  and  Boston,  where  one  of  the 
two  strongest  parishes,  —  King's  Chapel,  —  the  earliest 
Episcopal  organization  in  Boston,  had  become  alien- 
ated by  adopting  the  Unitarian  principles  of  belief,  and 
had  withdrawn  its  influence  from  the  weak  and  strug- 
gling Church.    Parishes  were  established  at  Marblehead, 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL   BEGINNINGS.  91 

Salem,   Newburyport,  and   Portsmouth.     The   founda- 
tion  known  as  Trinity  Parish,    New  York,   gave    the 
Episcopal  Church  great  social  and  financial  strength  in 
that  city.     After  New  York  there  was   almost  nothing 
until    Philadelphia  was    reached,   and    here    the   chief 
strength  was  confined   to  three  or  four  parishes.     In 
Maryland  there  was  some  strength  in  Baltimore  and  in 
Annapolis,  and  in  Virginia  there  were  many  old  churches 
in  country  districts,  some  of  them  in  a  decayed  condi- 
tion, many  of  them  without   pastors,  and  all  of  them 
deprived  of  their  glebe  lands,  which   had  been  used 
before  the  Revolution  for  the  support  of  the  clergy.    In 
North  and  South  Carolina  there  was  some  strength,  but 
though  the  churches  were  Episcopal  in  name,  the  peo- 
ple were  only  willing  to  have  a  Bishop  among  them  on 
the  condition  that  he  should  not  discharge  the  duties  of 
his  office. 

The  sympathy  between  these  scattered  congregations 
along  the  seaboard  was  not  at  all  that  of  an  active 
propaganda.  It  was  all  that  each  parish  could  do  to 
hold  its  own.  In  the  northern  section,  outside  of  the 
cities,  the  parishes  had  been  largely  assisted  before  the 
Revolution  by  the  grants  of  the  venerable  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  With  the  independence 
of  the  American  States  these  grants  were  withdrawn. 
At  no  time  could  they  have  ceased  with  greater  injury 
to  these  struggling  congregations.  Archbishop  Carroll 
complains  that  in  his  own  communion  there  were  no 
funds  to  do  anything  with.  The  Episcopal  parishes 
were  in  the  same  situation.  Bishop  Seabury  was  still 
a  parish  clergyman  at  New  London  after  he  had  en- 


92  BISHOP   WHITE. 

tered  upon  his  Episcopate,  and  his  Episcopal  income 
was  confined  to  the  payment  of  his  travelUng  expenses 
as  he  journeyed  from  parish  to  parish.  Bishop  Provoost 
was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  also  had  the  rectorship  of 
the  leading  parish  in  New  York.  Bishop  White,  as  has 
been  already  said,  was  also  a  man  of  wealth,  and  never 
received  a  dollar  of  income  as  Bishop  during  his  long 
Episcopate.  Bishop  Madison  left  the  presidency  of 
the  College  of  William  and  Mary  to  take  the  charge  of 
the  churches  in  Virginia,  but  no  provision  was  made 
for  his  support  while  discharging  the  duties  of  his 
office,  and  the  reason  why  Dr.  Griffiths  did  not  go  to 
England  to  receive  consecration  with  Dr.  White  and 
Dr.  Provoost  was  that  he  was  too  poor  to  bear  the  ex- 
penses of  the  journey.  This  expense,  according  to 
Bishop  White's  accounts,  was  ;£350.^  The  poverty  of 
the  Episcopal  churches  in  those  days  was  real  and 
great.  The  clergy  were  obliged  to  eke  out  their  in- 
comes by  taking  private  pupils,  and  in  many  places 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  congregations  were  held 
together  at  all. 

In  New  England  most  of  the  clergy  had  been  loyal 
to  the  King  during  the  Revolution,  and  the  political 
hostility  of  the  Puritans  and  of  their  descendants  was 
added  to  the  religious  prejudice  against  them,  which 
had  been  one  of  the  traditions  brought  over  from  Eng- 
land in  the  great  emigration  of  1640.  It  is  impossible 
at  this  time  to  appreciate  the  severity  or  intensity  of 
the  feeling  which  was  entertained  toward  Churchmen 

1  This  included  the  expense  of  his  robes. 


THE   DAY  OF  SMALL   BEGLNNIXGS.  93 

at  the  beginning  of  the  century  in  all  parts  of  New 
England.  The  austerities  of  the  religious  life  were 
cultivated  at  the  expense  of  its  amenities.  No  courte- 
sies were  wasted  between  the  Church  rectors  and  their 
clerical  neighbors.  Most  of  the  Church  people  were 
converts  from  the  Puritan  faith,  and  only  in  places  like 
Newport  and  Boston  and  New  York  were  there  to  be 
found  persons  who  represented  to  any  extent  the  colo- 
nial traditions  and  family  life  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 
Trinity  Parish,  New  York,  had  a  certain  prestige  on 
account  of  its  endowments,  but  the  Dutch  Reformed 
people  and  the  Presbyterians  gave  a  wide  berth  to  its 
members  in  their  social  and  religious  intercourse.  The 
conciliatory  course  of  Bishop  White  had  done  much  to 
create  a  kindly  feeling  among  the  Quakers.  He  had 
been  careful  not  to  antagonize  their  peculiar  tenets, 
and  yet  he  was  the  foremost  man  among  Churchmen  to 
recognize  the  need  of  organization  and  to  insist  on  the 
proper  foundations  for  future  growth.  The  Church  in 
Philadelphia  advanced  more  rapidly  from  1790  to  1800 
than  it  did  at  any  other  point  during  that  time  along 
the  Atlantic  coast,  and  it  is  this  fact  which  gave  the 
Episcopal  Church  a  precedence  and  position  that  have 
been  retained  up  to  the  present  time  in  that  city. 

In  1 79 1  Bishop  White  had  a  communication  from 
Dr.  Thomas  Coke,  an  Oxford  graduate  and  a  pres- 
byter of  the  Church  of  England,  who  for  fourteen  years 
had  been  following  John  Wesley,  and  who,  like  him, 
did  not  intend  to  promote  a  separation  of  the  Metho- 
dists from  the  Church  of  England.  He  wrote  first  to 
Bishop  White,  about  two  months  after  Wesley's  death, 


94  BISHOP   WHITE. 

and  then  three  weeks  later,  May  14,  1791,  to  Bishop 
Seabury,  proposmg  in  a  confidential  way  measures  for 
the  union  of  Methodists  in  this  country  with  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  He  evidently  felt  that  he  had  no 
authority  adequate  to  his  office  as  an  overseer  or  bishop 
in  the  Church  of  God.  His  actual  feeling  is  expressed 
in  the  following  extract  from  his  letter  to  Bishop 
Seabury :  — 

"  I  love  the  Methodists  in  America  and  could  not  think 
of  leaving  them  entirely,  whatever  might  happen  to  me  in 
Europe.  The  preachers  and  people  also  love  me;  many 
have  a  peculiar  regard  for  me.  But  I  could  not  with 
propriety  visit  American  Methodists,  possessing  in  our 
Church  on  this  side  of  the  water  an  office  inferior  to  that  of 
Mr  Asbury.  But  if  the  two  Houses  of  the  Convention  of  the 
Clergy  [meaning  the  General  Convention]  would  consent 
to  your  consecration  of  Mr.  Asbury  and  me  as  bishops  of 
the  Methodist  Society  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  these  United  States,  or  by  any  other  title,  if  that  be  not 
proper,  on  the  supposition  of  the  reunion  of  the  two  churches 
under  proper  mutual  stipulations,  and  engage  that  the 
Methodist  Societies  shall  have  a  regular  supply,  on  the 
death  of  their  bishops,  and  so  on,  ad perpetutwt,  the  grand 
difficulty  in  respect  to  the  teachers  would  be  removed  — 
they  would  have  the  same  men  to  confide  in  whom  they 
have  at  present,  and  all  other  mutual  stipulations  would 
soon  be  settled." 

It  is  not  known  that  Bishop  Seabury  sent  any  reply 
to  this  letter,  but  Bishop  White  returned  an  answer. 

Bishop  Madison  had  the  design  of  securing  a  union 
with  the  Methodists  very  much  at  heart,  and  introduced 
a  proposition  into  the  House  of  Bishops  in  1792  which 
was  intended    to    bring    about    some   sort    of    union 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL   BEGINNINGS.  95 

between  the  two  bodies.      The    proposition   read  as 
follows :  — 

"  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  ever  bearing  in  mind  the  sacred  obligation 
which  attends  all  the  followers  of  Christ  to  avoid  divisions 
among  themselves  and  anxious  to  promote  that  union  for 
which  our  Lord  and  Saviour  so  earnestly  prayed,  do  hereby 
declare  to  the  Christian  world,  that,  uninfluenced  by  any 
other  considerations  than  those  of  duty  as  Christians  and  an 
earnest  desire  for  the  prosperity  of  true  Christianity  and  the 
furtherance  of  our  holy  religion,  they  are  ready  and  willing 
to  unite  and  form  one  body  with  any  religious  society  which 
shall  be  influenced  by  the  same  Catholic  spirit.  And  in  or- 
der that  this  Christian  end  maybe  the  more  easily  effected, 
they  further  declare  that  all  things  in  which  the  great  essen- 
tials of  Christianity  or  the  characteristic  principles  of  their 
Church  are  not  concerned,  they  are  willing  to  leave  to 
future  discussion;  being  ready  to  alter  or  modify  those 
points  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  are  subject  to  human  alteration.  And  it  is  hereby 
recommended  to  the  State  Conventions  to  adopt  such 
measures  or  to  propose  such  conferences  with  Christians 
of  other  denominations  as  to  themselves  may  be  thought 
most  prudent,  and  report  accordingly  to  the  ensuing  Gen- 
eral Convention." 

This  plan  was  considered  as  preposterous  by  the 
Lower  House.  The  clerical  and  lay  deputies  would 
not  entertain  it  for  a  moment,  and  the  Bishops  asked 
leave  to  silently  withdraw  it.  Bishop  \\'hite  saw  Dr. 
Coke  three  times,  and  heard  him  read  the  letter  which 
he  had  written  to  Bishop  Seabury.  Dr.  Coke  did  not 
propose  that  the  two  bodies  should  be  affiliated.  His 
only  expectation  was  that  he  and  Mr.  Asbury  would 
become  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Society. 


96  BISHOP   WHITE. 

Bishop  White  remarks  that    "■  it  was  evident    that 
from  some  circumstances  which  passed  in  conversation 
with  Dr.  Coke,  there  was  a  degree  of  jealousy,  if  not 
of  misunderstanding,  between  him  and  Mr.  Asbury;" 
and  it  is  not  known  that   the  latter  desired  the  Epis- 
copal office.     When  Dr.  White  went  to  England  for  his 
consecration,  he  attempted  to  see  Mr.  Wesley  in  order 
to  state  to  him  some   facts  about  the  relation  of  the 
Methodist  societies  in  America  to  the  Episcopal  Church, 
but  his  stay  was  so  short   that  he  was  unable  to  obtain 
an  interview.     He  had  a  conversation,  however,  with 
his  brother,  the   Rev.  Charles  Wesley,  who  expressed 
himself  in  strong  terms  against  the  secession  of  the 
Methodists  from  the  Church  of  England.     The  object 
of  Dr.  Coke  seems  to  have  been  to  obtain  the  Episco- 
pal office  on  the  ground  that  it  would  confer  upon  him- 
self a  real  authority  as  a  leader  of  the  Methodist  body. 
He  did  not  intend  that  the  two  bodies  should  be  com- 
prehended in  a  large  unity  of  plan  or  purpose.    On  the 
other  hand,  Bishop  White  and  his  brother  prelates  could 
not  confer  upon  these  two  Methodist  superintendents 
the  full  authority  of  the  Episcopate  without  exacting 
sacred  pledges  that  the  dignity  and  prerogatives  of  the 
office  would  be  faithfully  regarded.^ 

The  movement  fell  through  because  neither  party 
was  willing  to  meet  the  conditions  of  the  other,  though 
the  bishops  were  far  wiser  than  any  others  who  had  to 
deal  with  this  subject.     When  in  the  Convention  of 

1  Bishop  White's  Memoirs  of  the  Church,  Dr.  Da  Costa's 
edition,  pp.  195-199. 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL   BEGTXNINGS.  97 

1856  the  Memorial  Movement,  originated  by  Dr. 
Muhlenberg  in  1853,  was  before  the  General  Conven- 
tion of  that  date,  it  was  again,  as  in  1792,  the  Lower 
House  which  decided  against  that  wise  effort  to  reach 
out  on  the  part  of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  a  large 
comprehension  of  the  needs  of  our  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity. The  Bishops  of  the  Church  in  1792  and  in 
1856  had  a  far  higher  and  clearer  sense  of  Catholic 
life  and  order  than  that  entertained  by  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  it  was  not  until  1886 
that  the  declaration  on  Christian  Unity  was  made  by 
the  House  of  Bishops  and  the  Lower  House  was  ready 
to  unite  in  a  standard  of  union  which  could  be  offered 
in  behalf  of  comprehensive  Christian  unity,  and  even 
then  the  final  terms  of  this  famous  declaration  were 
less  comprehensive  than  the  Bishops  in  1792  and  1856 
were  ready  to  accept.  In  this  connection  it  is  not 
without  interest  to  state  the  beginning  of  Methodist 
Episcopacy,  fo72s  et  origo.  ''  The  imposition  of  the 
hands  "  was  not  done  publicly  in  the  church,  but  in 
Wesley's  bedchamber  at  Bristol,  England.  It  was  soon 
reported  that  Wesley  had  made  Dr.  Coke  a  Bishop ; 
and  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley,  who  was  not 
in  the  secret,  and  did  not  approve  of  what  he  had 
done,  wrote  the   following  witty  epigram  :  — 

"  So  easily  are  Bishops  made, 
By  man's  or  woman's  whim  ; 
Wesley  his  hands  on  Coke  hath  laid, 
But  —  who  laid  hands  on  him  ?  " 

The  weakness  of  the  Church  at  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  may  be  estimated  in  another  way.     It 

7 


98  BISHOP   WHITE. 

was  without  endowments  for  the  training  of  the  clergy, 
without  institutions  of  any  kind,  without  any  effort  to 
undertake  missions  at  home  or  abroad,  and  without  the 
idea  of  doing  anything  beyond  the  maintenance  of  a 
bare  existence.  When  Dr.  Channing  Moore  was  chosen 
Bishop  of  Virginia  in  1814  there  were  seven  clergymen 
and  seventeen  laymen  present  to  elect  him,  and  this 
was  in  a  territory  where  before  the  Revolution  more  than 
ten  times  seven  regularly  served  at  the  altar.  When 
Bishop  Seabury  died  in  1796  he  was  practically  in 
charge  of  all  New  England.  He  made  his  visitations 
on  horseback,  or  in  a  sulky,  or  by  sea,  as  circumstances 
offered,  and  it  was  not  until  nearly  the  end  of  his  life 
that  an  effort  was  made  to  furnish  him  with  an  Epis- 
copal income,  and  even  that  was  but  a  pittance,  in  no 
way  meeting  the  demands  of  his  office.  Dr.  Benjamin 
Moore,  who  succeeded  Bishop  Provoost,  was  supported 
on  the  Trinity  foundation,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
Church  had  gone  a  long  way  down  into  the  present 
century  that  in  any  diocese  an  adequate  income  was 
provided  for  the  Bishop  placed  at  its  head.  It  was 
not  until  1795  ^"^^  ^'^'  Robert  Smith  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  South  Carolina,  and  that  diocese  had  no  re- 
presentative in  any  General  Convention  until  1814. 
The  only  condition  on  which  its  clergy  entered  into 
the  general  compact  for  organizing  the  Church  in  the 
United  States  was  that  no  Bishop  should  be  imposed 
upon  them.  It  desired  the  autocracy  of  power  neither 
in  Church  nor  in  State. 

And  yet  in  this  very  feebleness  there  was  strength. 
This  was   the    time  when  the   Methodist   circuit-rider 


THE  DAY  OF  SMALL  BEGINNINGS.  99 

was  the  pastor  of  the  settlers  on  the  frontier  in  the 
new  States  opening  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  the  time 
when  the  country  was  just  beginning  to  emerge  from 
its  deadly  torpor  after  the  war.  It  took  from  1789 
until  1 81 1,  when  Dr.  Hobart  and  Dr.  Griswold  were 
consecrated  by  Bishop  White,  respectively  as  Bishops  of 
New  York  and  of  the  Eastern  Diocese,  which  meant 
all  of  New  England  but  Connecticut,  for  the  stricken 
and  dismembered  Episcopal  Church  to  gather  up  its 
forces  and  prepare  for  active  work.  If  these  were 
years  of  solitude,  they  were  also  years  of  preparation. 
In  each  diocese  some  effort  was  made  to  advance  the 
Church  in  the  home  field,  and  the  men  were  beginning 
to  appear  here  and  there  who  were  to  be  the  leaders  of 
the  Church  in  the  next  generation.  Bishop  White  had 
found  a  young  man  of  promise  in  John  Henry  Hobart, 
another  in  Jackson  Kemper,  still  another  in  William 
Augustus  Muhlenberg,  still  another  in  James  Milnor, 
and  yet  another  in  William  H.  De  Lancey,  all  of  whom 
were  his  assistants  in  the  united  churches  in  Philadel- 
phia then  under  his  parochial  charge.  Two  other  men 
came  forward  at  about  this  time,  who  were  only  re- 
motely influenced  by  Bishop  White,  but  were  destined  to 
have  an  important  part  in  the  development  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  One  of  these  was  Dr.  Philander  Chase, 
the  first  Bishop  of  Ohio,  a  man  of  remarkable  indi- 
viduality and  power;  the  other  was  Alexander  Viets 
Griswold,  who  was  born  in  Simsbury,  Connecticut,  and 
who  was  consecrated  with  Dr.  Hobart  in  181 1.  Bishop 
Chase  was  the  man  for  a  pioneer  diocese,  and  Bishop 
Hobart  became   the  first  one  to  raise  the  standard  of 


lOO  BISHOP   WHITE. 

Chiirchmanship  in  the  United  States.  Early  in  1812 
the  Society  for  the  Advancement  of  Christianity  in 
Pennsylvania  was  formed.  It  did  not  originate  with 
Bishop  White,  but  it  received  the  sanction  and  support 
of  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese,  and  was  cordially 
approved  and  aided  by  him  in  its  organization  and 
work.  He  united  with  Bishop  Madison  in  different 
efforts  to  carry  the  Church  beyond  the  Alleghany 
mountains  into  the  new  field,  and  in  this  way  the  Epis- 
copal societies  were  organized  in  various  parts  of  Ohio 
and  in  different  parts  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 


INSFIKI.VG   YOUNGER  MEN.  lOI 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


INSPIRING    YOUNGER    MEN. 


The  story  of  Bishop  White's  career  cannot  be  con- 
fined simply  to  a  personal  record.  He  was  the  Presiding 
Bishop  of  the  whole  Church  in  the  United  States  ;  and 
as  years  went  on,  he  came  to  be  regarded  as  the 
patriarch  and  father  of  the  Anglican  Communion  in 
this  country.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  every  ef- 
fort to  advance  the  Church,  both  at  home  and  in  the 
foreign  field ;  but  in  days  when  the  facilities  for  travel 
were  few,  and  when  the  clergy  were  hardly  sufficient  to 
supply  the  existing  parishes,  and  when  there  was  no 
provision  for  the  study  of  holy  orders,  the  progress 
was  necessarily  slow  and  embarrassing.  It  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that  Bishop  White  gathered  around  him, 
either  as  assistant  ministers  or  for  purposes  of  instruc- 
tion, the  men  who  were  in  their  generation  largely  to 
influence  and  guide  the  awakening  life  of  the  Church. 

Jackson  Kemper,  who  was  for  twenty  years  the  as- 
sistant minister  of  St.  James's  Parish,  Philadelphia, 
under  Bishop  White,  was  ordained  deacon  by  him  in 
1 8 1 1 .  He  showed  his  fitness  to  be  the  first  missionary 
Bishop  of  the  Northwest  by  the  way  in  which  he  spent 
his  only  two  vacations  during  the  whole  period  of  his 
assistantship.     In   1812  and  in  18 14  he  was  granted 


I02  BISHOP   WHITE. 

leave  of  absence  from  the  united  churches  to  perform 
missionary  tours  in  the  West ;  and  in  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania, Western  Virginia,  and  Eastern  Ohio  he  took  his 
first  lessons  in  the  work  to  which  God  was  to  call  him 
later  in  life.  In  the  wild  regions  of  what  was  then  the 
far  West,  he  travelled  extensively,  and  in  many  places 
was  the  first  to  hold  Divine  service  according  to  the 
book  of  Common  Prayer.  It  was  in  these  fields  that 
he  had  his  zeal  enkindled  for  the  office  of  a  missionary 
bishop,  to  which  he  was  elected  at  the  General  Con- 
vention of  1835,  when  the  Episcopal  Church  first  rose 
in  its  full  strength  to  the  conception  of  what  it  had  to 
do  in  the  United  States.  He  was  the  last  person  whom 
Bishop  White  consecrated  to  the  Episcopal  office.  In 
St.  Peter's  Church,  at  Philadelphia,  where,  twenty-four 
years  before  he  had  knelt  to  take  upon  him  the  vows  of 
a  deacon,  for  the  third  time  he  knelt  to  have  the  vener- 
able hands  of  his  chief  pastor  and  friend  laid  upon  his 
head.  He  went  forth  from  that  sanctuary  to  be  for 
eleven  years  literally  a  homeless  man  ;  without  his 
children,  without  his  library,  without  even  a  study, 
travelling  on  horseback  and  on  foot,  preaching  in  way- 
side cabins,  in  taverns,  in  school-houses,  and  upper 
rooms,  his  saddle  bags  containing  his  worldly  goods,  — 
his  robes  and  Communion  Service,  his  Bible,  and  his 
Prayer-book.  Few  men  ever  gave  themselves  more 
unreservedly  to  missionary  work.  He  was  the  great 
pioneer  of  the  Northwest  until  he  fell  at  his  post  in 
Wisconsin  in  1871.  He  established  prosperous  dioce- 
ses in  Missouri,  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Iowa, 
Kansas,  and  Nebraska. 


INSPIRING    YOUNGER  MEN.  103 

Over  all  these  regions  Bishop  Kemper  was  expected 
to  travel,  to  watch  their  development,  to  seek  out  the 
scattered  families  of  communicants,  to  found  parishes 
in  the  growing  towns,  and  to  establish  Church  institu- 
tions. The  following  story  shows  how  thoroughly  he 
lived  in  the  eyes  of  all  men,  and  kept  his  office  as 
bishop  in  the  forefront  of  everything :  — 

"Two  years  ago  we  were  in  a  railway  carriage  when  the 
Bishop  came  in.  A  number  of  gentlemen  were  conversing, 
and  the  conversation  turned  on  success  in  life.  One  of 
them,  not  a  Churchman,  known  all  over  the  West  as  one 
of  its  largest  capitalists  and  most  successful  business  men, 
remarked  :  'Gentlemen,  there  is  a  man  [pointing to  Bishop 
Kemper]  who  is  the  most  successful  man  I  know,  as  well 
as  the  most  devoted  to  his  business.  When  I  look  at  him 
I  consider  myself  an  entire  failure.  He  is  the  richest  man 
in  the  Northwest.'  A  rather  obtuse  personage  in  the  com- 
pany said,  '  Why,  I  did  not  know  that  the  Bishop  was  rich.' 
'Rich?'  was  the  answer;  'why,  he  is  so  rich  that  he 
doesn't  think  as  much  of  a  milHon  dollars  as  you  or  I 
would  of  a  hundred,  and  we  are  not  paupers.  Why,  he  'd 
give  away  a  million  on  sight,  and  never  miss  it.  What 
grubbing  fellows  he  must  consider  such  as  we  !  Yes,  the 
Bishop  is  rich.  He  's  the  only  man  I  could  envy.  The 
look  on  half  the  faces  in  this  car  when  he  came  in  was 
something  all  the  money  in  the  country  could  n't  buy  ! '"  * 

This  was  the  character  and  the  career  of  one  of  the 
men  whose  life  was  largely  fashioned  under  the  influ- 
ence of  Bishop  White. 

Another  man  over  whom  the  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania 
had  great  influence  was  Dr.  Muhlenberg.  Before  there 
was  any  divinity  school  in  the  country  he  was  one  of 
1  The  Christian  Year,  September,  1S71,  vol.  i.  p.  289. 


I04  BISHOP   WHITE. 

three  young  men  who  used  to  recite  regularly  to  Mr. 
Kemper,  then  the  Bishop's  assistant,  and  who  also  met 
once  a  fortnight  in  the  Bishop's  study  to  read  essays  of 
their  own  on  subjects  selected  by  the  Bishop.^  Young 
Muhlenberg,  while  the  formation  of  a  theological  sem- 
inary was  under  consideration,  read  before  him  in 
1 8 1 7  an  argument  for  a  large  general  seminary,  and 
pointed  out  how  he  would  have  it  arranged.  This  is 
believed  to  have  been  the  earliest  open  statement  of 
the  plan  for  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  which 
was  established  in  1820,  and  in  it  he  differed  radically 
from  his  revered  father  in  the  Church,  who  expressed 
his  preference  for  the  establishment  of  local  or  diocesan 
seminaries.  Young  Muhlenberg  constantly  accompa- 
nied Mr.  Kemper  in  his  visits  among  the  sick  and  poor 
of  the  city,  and  continually  sought  opportunities  for 
improvement  which  indicated  his  sympathy  at  that 
early  age  with  the  whole  life  of  humanity.  He  had 
his  first  class  in  the  Sunday-school  at  St.  James's, 
Philadelphia,  and  that  school  was  one  of  the  first  in 
the  country  ;  and  here,  at  the  request  of  Bishop  White, 
he  trained  the  first  boy-choir  in  America.  He  was 
also  instrumental  in  abolishing  the  clerk's  reading  of 
the  responses,  and  especially  the  giving  out  of  the 
metre  psalm,  which  was  a  great  annoyance  in  wor- 
ship. A  good  story  is  told  by  him  in  further  illustra- 
tion of  this  practice  :  — 

"  Soon  after  my  ordination,  being  in  New  York,  accom- 
panying Bishop  White  on  his  way  to  Hartford  for  the  con- 

1  Life  and  Works  of  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  by  Annie  Ayres,  p.  39 
et  seq. 


INSPIRIXG    YOUNGER  MEN:  1 05 

secration  of  Bishop  Brownell,  at  an  evening  party  at  my 
sister's,  I  asked  Bishop  Hobart  how  he,  with  his  Church 
views,  could  allow  a  layman,  every  Sunday,  in  his  presence, 
to  stand  up  and  exhort  the  people.  He  asked  what  I 
meant.  I  repHed,  'The  clerk  giving  out  the  psalm  with 
the  call  to  "  sing  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  God."  '  He 
laughed,  and  I  know  that  not  long  after  the  practice  was 
abolished  in  New  York  also." 

In  the  second  year  of  his  divinity  studies,  Bishop 
White  gave  him  a  license  as  a  lay  reader.  In  the  ex- 
ercise of  this  office  he  felt  more  and  more  drawn  to 
his  future  profession.  He  was  also  the  manager  of  an 
auxiliary  Bible  society,  composed  chiefly  of  young  men, 
and  connected  with  the  first  Bible  society  in  the 
country,  of  which  Bishop  White  w^as  president.  His 
Church-father  had  counted  greatly  on  having  young 
Muhlenberg  as  one  of  his  assistant  ministers,  and  he  was 
elected  as  his  chaplain,  as  soon  as  he  was  admitted  to 
the  diaconate.  The  venerable  Bishop  and  his  youth- 
ful friend  were  well  suited  to  each  other.  The  older 
man  liked  the  delicate  sensibility  and  the  retiring  shy- 
ness which  lent  a  wonderful  charm  to  the  originality 
and  independence  of  his  young  friend.  Interesting 
stories  are  told  of  both  of  them.  A  day  or  two  after 
his  ordination  he  was  asked  to  baptize  an  infant  in 
St.  Peter's  Church.  His  countenance  flushed  and  his 
whole  manner  became  embarrassed,  and  he  earnestly 
requested  Bishop  White,  who  was  present,  to  administer 
the  sacrament  for  him ;  but  the  Bishop  would  have  his 
young  brother  make  a  beginning,  and  would  not  yield. 
Another  story  is  told  of  the  first  confirmation  which  he 


Io6  BISHOP    WHITE. 

attended  as  his  chaplain.  While  the  Right  Reverend 
Father  was  laying  hands  on  a  chancelful  of  young 
people,  an  excited  lady  rushed  up,  exclaiming  in  a 
loud  whisper :  *'  Mr.  Muhlenberg,  the  Bishop  said 
she !^^  "Move  him  to  the  end  of  the  row,"  was  the 
quiet  and  instant  rejoinder.  The  Bishop  had  mistaken 
the  lady's  son  for  a  girl,  but  it  was  rectified  when  the 
round  of  the  chancel  was  completed. 

Still  another  anecdote  illustrates  the  relations  be- 
tween the  two.  On  the  first  Sunday  of  his  officiating 
as  assistant,  the  Bishop  preached  in  the  morning,  and 
Mr.  Muhlenberg  read  prayers,  which  was  the  deacon's 
part.  In  the  afternoon  when  Mr.  Muhlenberg  was  to 
preach,  the  Bishop  put  on  the  surplice  to  read  prayers. 
The  curate  reminded  him  that  to  read  prayers  was  his 
own  duty  as  the  assistant.  The  Bishop  replied  :  "  You 
read  for  me  this  morning,  and  I  will  read  for  you  this 
afternoon."  The  young  deacon  begged  in  vain  to  be 
allowed  to  take  his  place  in  the  desk,  but  the  Bishop 
refused  and  walked  out  of  the  vestry,  saying  pleas- 
antly, "Turn  about  is  all  fair."  "Turn  about !  "  said 
Mr.  Muhlenberg  in  telling  the  story ;  "  turn  about  be- 
tween the  Patriarch  of  the  Church,  then  past  seventy, 
and  a  boy  honoured  with  the  appointment  of  chaplain 
to  him  !  "  The  vestrymen  insisted  that  the  assistant 
ought  always  to  read  prayers,  and  laughed  at  the  ar- 
rangement as  "  Bishop  Muhlenberg  and  Mr.  White ;  " 
and  the  Bishop  finally  yielded  to  what  was  thought  by 
them  to  be  the  right  usage.  Young  Muhlenberg  spent 
three  years  with  him  as  deacon.  Shortly  after  his  admis- 
sion to  the  priesthood,  the  Bishop  took  him  to  Lancaster, 


INSPIRING    YOUNGER  MEN.  107 

Pa.,  when  a  church  was  to  be  consecrated.  The  ser- 
vice took  place  on  Sunday,  and  in  the  afternoon  Mr. 
Muhlenberg  occupied  the  pulpit,  and  preached  so  well 
that  the  people  immediately  called  him  to  the  rector- 
ship, which  he,  greatly  to  the  regret  of  the  Bishop, 
accepted.  This  did  not  terminate  their  affectionate 
intercourse,  and  Mr.  Muhlenberg  still  retained  his 
kindest  regard,  and  was  followed  by  him  with  constant 
sympathy  in  his  later  career. 

Dr.  Muhlenberg  used  to  say  that  Bishop  White  be- 
came a  better  Churchman  after  Dr.  Hobart  was  made 
Bishop  of  New  York,  than  he  was  before.  Young 
Hobart  was  practically  educated  by  him,  and  had  re- 
garded him  as  his  spiritual  teacher  from  childhood, 
pointing  out  in  his  old  age  the  very  pew  in  Christ 
Church  where  he  used  to  sit  with  his  father  and  mother. 
He  derived  in  the  first  instance  all  his  ideas  of  the 
Church  from  Bishop  White's  personal  instructions,  and 
from  the  books  which  he  loaned  him  to  read.^  He 
was  confirmed  by  the  Bishop  in  1790,  in  his  fifteenth 
year,  and  was  a  student  in  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania until  1 793,  when  he  finished  his  studies  at  Prince- 
ton, under  Bishop  White's  advice.  The  first  years  of 
his  ministry  were  spent  at  Oxford,  in  the  Pennsylvania 
diocese.  Here  he  was  distinguished  for  his  qualities 
as  a  debater,  for  his  attachment  to  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  for  his  liberality  towards  Christians  of 
other  religious  bodies.  Bishop  White  followed  him 
with  constant  interest  as  a  spiritual  adviser,  and 
earnestly   recommended   him  to   study   the    Bible   in 

1  Dr.  Berrian's  Memoir,  Hobart's  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  52. 


io8  BISHOP   WHITE. 

forming  his  opinions.  After  his  ordination  he  was 
under  the  Bishop's  control,  and  was  located  about  ten 
miles  from  Philadelphia.  He  thus  speaks  with  char- 
acteristic modesty  of  his  relations  to  young  Hobart : 
"Although  his  signal  proficiency  is  the  fruit  of  his 
own  talents  and  industry,  yet  I  have  ever  since  pleased 
myself  with  the  hope  that  he  may  have  derived  some 
little  aid  from  what  it  occurred  to  me  to  suggest  to 
him."  ^  In  the  year  1800  he  was  called  to  be  an 
assistant  at  Trinity  Parish,  New  York,  and  quickly  be- 
came one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  diocese.  Dr.  Mc- 
Vickar  says  :  "  In  the  State  Convention,  from  the  day 
of  his  first  appearance,  he  became  what  may  be  termed 
its  business  man.  He  was  annually  chosen  its  secre- 
tary from  1 80 1  to  181 1,  when  he  was  elected  to  be  its 
Bishop,  and  during  the  whole  of  this  period  its  official 
business  rested  on  him." 

As  early  as  1 799,  through  the  friendship  of  Bishop 
White,  he  had  been  appointed  secretary  to  the  House 
of  Bishops ;  and  he  was  regularly  chosen  both  a  mem- 
ber of  the  standing  committee  of  the  New  York  diocese 
and  a  delegate  to  represent  it  in  the  General  Conven- 
tion. Dr.  McVickar  notes  as  a  coincidence  "  that  the 
very  first  entry  of  his  name  on  the  minutes  of  the 
[diocesan]  convention,  the  first  year  he  sat  in  it,  is  in 
connection  with  the  principle  that  marked  all  his 
subsequent  course,  —  Ecclesia  est  in  Epsicopo.  '  On 
motion  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hobart,  Resolved,  That  this 
Convention  cannot  with  propriety  act  upon  this  memo- 
rial while  this  Church  is  destitute  of  a  Bishop.'     This 

1  Dr.  Belli an's  Memoir,  Hobart's  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  67. 


INSPIRING    YOUNGER  MEN.  109 

entry  follows,  in  the  journal  of  180 1,  immediately  after 
the  resignation  of  Bishop  Provoost."  ^  The  confidence 
reposed  in  his  judgment  and  in  his  practical  talent  placed 
him,  even  at  that  early  age,  among  the  wisest  counsel- 
lors of  the  Church.  It  was  during  this  time  that  he 
wrote  the  series  of  books  by  which  he  was  greatly  to 
improve  the  devotional  life  of  his  own  Communion, 
and  prepare  the  way  for  a  higher  standard  in  ritual 
and  a  stronger  statement  of  Church  principles.  Bishop 
Hobart  died  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-five,  in  the  year 
1830,  six  years  before  Bishop  White  ended  his  Hfe- 
work ;  but  he  put  into  that  short  career  the  energy 
and  the  vigour  which  made  his  influence  more  remark- 
able and  more  widely  extended  than  that  of  any  other 
man  up  to  that  time  in  the  American  Episcopate,  ex- 
cept Bishop  White,  from  whom,  it  is  right  to  say,  he 
derived  his  comprehensive  grasp  of  the  situation  and 
the  treatment  of  Church  questions  like  a  Christian 
statesman. 

Bishop  White  had  great  difficulty  among  the  Penn- 
sylvania Quakers  and  the  latitudinarian  Churchmen  of 
that  region  and  further  South,  in  asserting  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Church.  He  always  acted  upon  them  him- 
self, but  he  could  not  set  them  forth  to  the  full  extent 
that  he  believed  in  them.  It  is  not  here  stated  that 
he  was  ready  to  advocate  all  the  opinions  which  Bishop 
Hobart  held  in  regard  to  the  priesthood,  the  holy 
communion,  and  the  sacrifice  of  Christ ;  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  never  rebuked  his  disciple  for  holding 
more  advanced  views  than  he  did,  and,  as  has  been  said, 

^  Dr.  McVickar's  Life  of  Bishop  Hobart,  p.  200. 


no  BISHOP  WHITE. 

he  was  a  better  Churchman  after  Dr.  Hobart  entered 
the  House  of  Bishops  than  he  was  before.     The  inti- 
mate and  confidential  relations  in  which  the  two  men 
stood  to  one  another  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  it 
was  to  Bishop  Hobart  that  his  aged  friend  in  Septem- 
ber, 1819,  addressed  at  his  special  desire  a  letter  relat- 
ing the  incidents  of  the  early  part  of  his  life,  and  it 
is  more  than  likely  that  his  *"'  Memoirs  of  the  Church  " 
was  suggested  by  the  same  party.     Perhaps  there  was 
no  one  of  the  men  whom  Bishop  White  educated  and 
loved,  who  in  turn  had  greater  influence  upon  him  or 
consulted  him  oftener  in  the  administration  of  Church 
affairs.     Bishop  Hobart  was  too  independent  and  ag- 
gressive a  man  always  to  follow  Bishop  White's  con- 
servative methods,  and  he  ruled  a  part  of  the  Church 
in  which  his  policy  was  accepted  and  carried  out.     In 
New  York  and  in  Connecticut  the  greater  part  of  the 
strong   Churchmen  in  the   early  years  of  this  century 
were  to  be  found ;  and  if  Bishop  White  inspired  him  as 
a  young  man,  he  did  not  in  any  visible  way  control  his 
public  action. 

Two  men  are  yet  to  be  introduced  in  this  portraiture 
of  the  persons  who  were  pupils  of  Bishop  White  or 
pioneers  under  him  as  Presiding  Bishop  in  extending 
the  Church  at  this  period,  —  Philander  Chase  and 
Alexander  Viets  Griswold.  Philander  Chase  was  a 
New  Englander  to  the  backbone,  a  self-made  man,  but 
one  who  never  lost  his  individuality  in  his  office,  and 
had  in  him  abundant  raw  materials  for  the  making  of  a 
great  man.  It  was  apparently  an  accident  that  led 
him  into  the  Episcopal   Church;    but    from   his   first 


INSPIRING    YOUNGER  MEN.  Ill 

reading  of  the  Prayer-book  he  was  an  ardent  Church- 
man, and  induced  his  parents,  brothers,  sisters,  and 
not  a  few  others  in  the  neighbourhood  to  follow  his  ex- 
ample. He  became  at  once  a  lay  reader,  officiating  as 
he  had  opportunity  in  different  places  in  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Vermont,  along  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut 
River.  He  was  born  in  1775,  —  the  same  year  in  which 
Bishop  Hobart  was  born,  but  he  was  utterly  unlike  him 
in  temperament  and  Churchmanship.  Indeed,  when 
Mr.  Chase  —  after  graduating  from  Dartmouth  in  1795, 
^  and  receiving  ordination  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Pro- 
voost  in  1798,  and  after  a  brief  experience  in  New 
York  State  and  New  Orleans,  during  which  his  thoughts 
and  anxieties  were  directed  toward  the  great  West  as 
the  field  which  it  was  his  duty  to  occupy,  and  after  a 
brief  stay  in  Ohio,  during  which  he  had  shown  himself 
a  very  efficient  leader  —  was  nominated  for  the  Episco- 
pate by  the  first  Convention  of  Ohio,  Bishop  Hobart 
was  inclined  to  treat  him  with  decided  contempt.  He 
neither  liked  his  Churchmanship  nor  the  headlong  way 
in  which  he  threw  himself  into  difficulties,  with  the 
faith  that  somehow  things  would  turn  out  right.  Bishop 
White  was  the  most  charitable  and  liberal  of  the 
bishops  who  consecrated  him,  though  Bishop  Hobart 
assisted  at  his  consecration.  The  latter  treated  him  with 
greater  kindness,  after  his  return  from  a  successful  trip 
in  England  to  raise  funds  for  the  diocese  of  what  the 
English  were  pleased  to  call  "  Oh-i-o."  He  was  the 
founder  of  Kenyon  College,  and  of  the  Gambler  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  and  in  the  height  of  his  career  was 
greatly  admired  and  trusted.     Though  a  man  very  dif- 


112  BISHOP    WHITE. 

ferent  in  temperament  from  Bishop  Kemper,  he  liad 
the  same  indomitable  missionary  spirit,  and  a  still 
stronger  purpose  of  having  his  own  way  in  everything. 
His  "  Reminiscences  "  is  as  racy  a  work  in  its  way 
as  Boswell's  "  Life  of  Johnson." 

He  was  a  unique  character,  a  truly  Yankee  bishop, 
a  man  who  succeeded  best  where  he  was  a  law  unto 
himself;  and  his  pioneer  work  in  Ohio  and  Illinois, 
for  which  he  raised  large  sums  in  England,  was  the 
first  instance,  after  the  Revolution,  in  which  English 
Churchmen  contributed  money  for  an  American  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  When  dressed  in  full  canonicals 
the  large  and  portly  old  man  was  every  inch  a  bishop, 
and  his  bearing  was  distinguished  down  to  the  smallest 
details.  His  wit  even  in  sacred  things  was  inimitable 
and  keen,  but  it  never  interfered  with  his  worship  or 
his  preaching.  The  story  of  his  life  reads  hke  a  ro- 
mance. He  was  the  first  to  show  in  American  orders 
a  type  of  Churchman  in  whom  an  overpowering  in- 
dividuality was  the  conspicuous  feature.  Bishop  Smith 
speaks  of  him,  when  he  presided  over  the  House  of 
Bishops,  as  one  who  gave  that  office  an  expression  in 
human  form  as  impressive  and  majestic  as  that  which 
Daniel  Webster  made  upon  the  American  Senate. 
"And  yet,"  he  continues,  "there  was  all  the  time  a 
child-light  in  his  eye,  a  quick  and  nervous  play  of  the 
muscles  of  his  face,  and  an  archness  of  expression 
spread  over  his  whole  countenance,  which,  in  his  last 
daguerrotype,  looks  slyly  above  his  glasses,  and  which 
will  carry  down  to  posterity  no  very  incorrect  impres- 
sion that  something  queer  within  was  being  held  under 


INSPIRIiYG    YOUNGER  MEN.  113 

constant  restraint."  ^  His  life  was  a  daily  surprise  ;  the 
Yankee  and  the  ecclesiastic  were  strangely  blended  in 
his  personal  bearing  and  in  his  intense  realization  of 
the  meaning  of  his  office.  Bishop  Chase  and  Bishop 
Kemper  were  the  two  men  who  made  their  mark  upon 
the  country  west  of  the  AUeghanies  during  the  life  of 
Bishop  White. 

Alexander  Viets  Griswold  was   a   New  Englander, 
but  a  man  of  far  different  type,  self-educated,  and  great 
by  the  force  of  mind  and  character  that  was  in  him. 
He  was  consecrated  to  the  Episcopate  in  181 1,  and 
did  not  have  to  ride  on  horseback  to  his  jurisdiction, 
as  Bishop  Chase  did,  when  he  returned  from  Philadel- 
phia to  take  charge  of  the  Eastern  Diocese.     He  was 
not  much  under  the  influence  of  Bishop  White  until 
he  became,  as  a  brother  prelate,  a  welcome  guest  in  the 
house  of  the  Presiding  Bishop  when  the  General  Con- 
vention was  held  in  Philadelphia,  but  he  was  a  man  of 
similar  spirit  and   similar  dignity  of  character.     It  is 
necessary  to  take  into  account  what  he  did  in  order  to 
obtain  a  faithful  picture   of  the  whole  Church  during 
Bishop  White's  leadership.    Two  causes  led  to  the  for- 
mation of  the  Eastern  Diocese.  There  was  special  need 
of  a  bishop  to  watch  over  the  infancy  of  the   parishes 
Episcopally    constituted,    and    the    weakness    of    the 
Church  in  the  Eastern  States  rendered  each  common- 
wealth separately  inadequate  to  the  maintenance  of  a 
bishop.     The  growth  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  this 
region  had  been  stoutly  resisted  by  the  New  England 

1  Dr.   Sprague's   Annals   of  the   American   Pulpit,   vol.   v., 

p.  459- 

8 


114  BISHOP   WHITE. 

people,  and  all  their  institutions  were  hostile  to  its  in- 
troduction. Bishop  Bass  was  engaged  in  active  duty 
only  six  years,  having  been  consecrated  in  1797,  and 
Bishop  Parker,  who  was  consecrated  in  September, 
1804,  died  in  the  December  following,  without  ever 
having  met  his  convention.  In  1805  the  Massachusetts 
Convention  urged  the  joining  of  Rhode  Island,  New 
Hampshire,  and  Massachusetts  in  one  diocese,  and  the 
choosing  of  a  single  bishop  to  serve  them  all.  It 
was  slow  work  to  bring  about  this  result.  It  was  not 
easy  to  secure  unanimity  of  feeling  or  harmony  of 
action.  The  territory  was  large  ;  the  clergy  were  scat- 
tered ;  and  it  was  difficult  to  gain  the  consent  of  the 
several  parties  to  this  united  action. 

Mr.  Griswold  preached  a  sermon  at  the  Conven- 
tion held  in  Boston  in  18 10  to  elect  a  Bishop  of  the 
Eastern  Diocese,  and  a  Congregational  minister  of 
Boston,  who  heard  it  and  asked  who  this  man  was, 
on  being  informed  that  he  had  just  been  elected 
Bishop  of  the  Eastern  Diocese,  rejoined  :  ''  Well,  I  can 
only  say  that  if  such  is  to  be  the  general  character  of 
his  preaching,  he  is  worthy  to  be  made  Archbishop  of 
Christendom."  ^  His  natural  qualities  indicated  rare 
fitness  for  the  Episcopate,  and  no  man  could  have  been 
chosen  who  more  completely  reversed  in  his  severe, 
simple,  and  primitive  manners,  the  Puritan  prejudices 
against  Episcopacy  which  had  existed  ever  since  the 
settlement  of  the  country.  He  had  every  gift  that  was 
needed  in  those  days  to  make  his  work  successful. 
He  was  in  the  prime  of  life  ;  he  had  sanctified  common 

1  Dr.  John  S.  Stone's  Memoir  of  Bishop  Griswold,  p.  159. 


INSPIRING    YOUNGER  MEN.  11$ 

sense ;  he  had  the  patience  and  humility  to  illustrate 
the  spiritual  character  of  a  bishop  in  a  rare  degree ; 
and  he  had  plenty  of  the  wisdom  of  this  world  in  his 
dealings  with  men  and  in  the  direction  of  affairs. 

It  was  an  anxious  moment  when  the  call  was  issued 
for  his  consecration.  It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
that  the  three  bishops  necessary  to  a  canonical  conse- 
cration were  brought  together.  Bishop  Moore  of  New 
York  had  just  been  "visited  by  a  paralytic  stroke." 
Bishop  Claggett  of  Maryland,  just  recovering  from  a 
severe  illness,  attempted  to  reach  New  Haven,  but  was 
compelled  to  return.  Bishop  Madison  of  Virginia  felt 
bound,  under  "the  solemnity  of  an  oath,"  not  to 
leave  the  duties  of  the  College  of  which  he  was  Presi- 
dent. Bishop  Provoost,  the  senior  of  Bishop  Moore 
in  New  York,  had  "  never  performed  any  ecclesiastical 
duty  since  the  appointment  of  his  assistant  in  1801," 
and  at  this  time  was  only  beginning  to  recover  from  an 
attack  of  the  jaundice.  Bishop  White  and  Bishop 
Jarvis  of  Connecticut  were  the  only  bishops  to  be  had. 
Bishop  Provoost  was  finally  prevailed  upon  to  leave 
his  retirement  and  give  his  attendance,  though  up  to 
the  last  moment  it  was  feared  that  he  could  not  at- 
tend ;  and  thus,  says  Bishop  White,  "  the  business  was 
happily  accomplished." 

Hardly  had  Bishop  Griswold  become  acquainted  with 
his  Episcopal  duties  before  the  great  defection  in  the 
Congregational  Churches  of  Massachusetts  became  the 
all-absorbing  religious  interest  of  the  community.  It 
embraced  the  flower  of  the  Puritan  clergy  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  intelligent  and  cultivated  laity.    The 


Il6  BISHOP    WHITE. 

defection  from  the  old  theology  was  common  through- 
out all  the   New  England  States,  but  the  Episcopal 
Church  was  so  weak  that  in  the    section  called  the 
Eastern  Diocese  it  had  little  or  no  power  to  assert  suc- 
cessfully its   claims  as  a  more  reasonable  and  whole- 
some form  of  religion.     It  was  too  weak  to  emphasize 
its  qualities ;    but  in   Connecticut,  where   the   Church 
had  been  comparatively  strong  for  a  century,  the  Unita- 
rian movement   made  no  progress,  and  those  who  de- 
parted from  the   standing  order  became  Churchmen, 
almost  without  exception.     It  is  a  curious  point  in  the 
evolution  of  the  rehgious  life  of  New  England  that  wher- 
ever the  Episcopal  Church  was  strong  enough  to  show 
the  development  of  the  Christian  life  upon  a  broad  and 
Catholic  basis,  the  Unitarian  defection  was  held  within 
the  limits  of  the  Catholic  faith  and  reinforced  it  with 
its  generous  culture.    Had  the  Church  been  as  strong  in 
Massachusetts  as  it  then  was  in  Connecticut,  it  is  not  un- 
reasonable to  think  that  the  Unitarian  body  could  never 
have  been  organized  upon  a  successful  basis.     Bishop 
Griswold   could   do   nothing  to  arrest  or  absorb  this 
movement,  but    he  created   the   impression  that    the 
Episcopal  Church  was  the  home  of  piety  and  learning, 
and  he  dispelled  the   prejudices  against  the   Church 
more  than   anybody  else.     He  gradually  lifted  up  the 
Episcopal   parishes,  far  and  near,  to  a  position  of  re- 
spectability and   influence.      He  did  in   the    Eastern 
Diocese  what  Bishop  White  did  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland    and   Virginia   and   in    the  dioceses  farther 
South.     He  counselled   the  best  use  of  the  influences 
to  be  had,  and  worked  quietly  by  unsensational  methods 


INSFIRIXG    YOUNGER  MEN.  H? 

in  a  community  that  was  often  bitterly  hostile  to  his 
faith.  His  public  career  was  contemporary  with  that  of 
Channing,  and  though  the  two  men  probably  never 
met,  they  had  much  in  common  in  their  ethical  views 
of  Christianity. 

This  review  of  the  first  outputting  of  strength  in 
the  Episcopal  Churches  of  the  United  States  presents 
Bishop  White  in  the  position  of  a  wise  and  conserva- 
tive leader,  who  educated  and  guided  the  best  men 
within  his  reach,  and  either  sent  them  forth  as  his 
pupils  or  aided  them  with  his  friendly  counsel  in  the 
ventures  of  faith  which  they  were  induced  to  under- 
take. It  was  not  a  period  for  great  things,  not  a 
time  when  the  Church  could  put  forth  its  strength 
and  work  by  institutions  as  well  as  by  men,  not  a  time 
when  the  soil  was  ripe  for  marked  advances.  The 
thinking  in  religion  of  the  original  founders  of  the 
country  was  as  yet  unquestioned  and  unimpaired. 
What  their  fathers  beheved,  the  sons  transmitted,  and 
no  decided  advance  was  possible  for  new  inquiries. 
The  Methodist  circuit-rider,  travelling  on  horseback 
from  settlement  to  settlement  among  the  scattered 
pioneers  of  the  frontier,  was  the  person  who  was  suc- 
cessfully building  up  a  new  generation  in  what  was,  to 
most  of  them,  a  new  faith. 


ii8  BISHOP   WHITE. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


WORKING  TO   LARGER   ENDS. 


There  were  two  drawbacks  to  the  growth  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  first  part  of  this  century. 
One  was  the  absence  of  institutions  for  educating 
and  training  its  clergy,  and  the  other  was  the  de- 
pressed condition  of  the  larger  number  of  the  parishes 
on  account  of  the  Revolution.  They  were  so  nearly 
destroyed  that  they  were  a  long  time  in  reviving. 
Perhaps  a  third  reason  should  be  assigned  in  the  be- 
ginnings of  party  feeling  in  the  dioceses  of  Virginia 
and  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  There  was  a  nota- 
ble instance  of  this  in  the  election  of  Dr.  Kemp  as 
the  Bishop  of  Maryland,  which  came  near  creating 
an  "  Evangelical  Episcopal  Church "  in  that  diocese, 
established  on  almost  identically  the  basis  of  what  is 
known  as  the  "  Reformed  Episcopal  Church  "  in  our 
own  day.  The  earliest  movement  toward  a  school  for 
the  education  of  the  clergy  was  made  in  Maryland. 
It  was  the  intention  to  establish  it  at  Washington. 
The  General  Theological  Seminary  was  not  then  in 
existence,  neither  had  any  diocese  in  1813  founded 
a  school  for  theological  instruction  within  its  limits. 
Bishop  White  was  constantly  exercised  over  this  mat- 
ter, and  believed  that  the  best  way  out  was  to  establish 


WORKING    TO  LARGER  ENDS.  119 

diocesan  schools,  though  when  seven  years  later  it  was 
finally  decided  by  the  General  Convention  to  establish 
one  school  for  the  whole  country,  he  acquiesced  in 
the  decision,  and  was  always  loyal  to  that  institution. 

The  beginning  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary 
was  in  the   General   Convention  of    18 14,   when   the 
Rev.  Dr.  Gadsden  of  South  Carolina  offered  a  reso- 
lution that  a  committee  be  appointed,  with  the  consent 
of  the  House  of  Bishops,  to   take  into  consideration 
the  institution  of  a  theological  seminary.     It  was  voted 
down ;  but  by  a  subsequent  resolution  the  whole  mat- 
ter was  referred   to  the  Bishops.     Nothing  was  done 
until  the  Convention  of  181 7,  when   a  committee  of 
three  Bishops  —  White,  Hobart,  and  Croes  —  and  two 
clergymen  was  appointed    to    solicit    subscriptions    in 
different  parts  of  the   country  for  the  school.     It  was 
the  intention  to   locate  it   in  New  York  City,  but   to 
solicit  the  subscriptions  in  such  a  way  that  the  whole 
Church   in   the  United    States  would    feel  a  common 
interest  in  it.     Much  time  was  taken  in  the  Convention 
of  1820  in  transferring   the  Theological  School  from 
New  York  to  New  Haven,  and  a  special  Convention 
was  called  in  182 1   to  remove   it  back  to  New  York, 
where  a  diocesan  seminary  had  already  been  begun 
under  the  auspices   of  Bishop   Hobart.     The  starting 
of  this  institution  quickly  aroused  the  interest  of  Vir- 
ginia in  undertaking  a  training-school,   which   should 
gather  candidates  in  Virginia  and  Maryland  and  Penn- 
sylvania, and  which  should  be  more  evangelical  than 
it  was  feared  that  the  New  York  institution  could  pos- 
sibly be  under  the  control  of  Churchmen  of  the  type 


120  BISHOP   WHITE. 

of  Bishop  Hobart.  This  resulted  in  the  organization 
of  the  Alexandria  Seminary  in  1823,  which,  though 
not  a  rival  of  the  New  York  school,  was  from  the  first 
intended  to  emphasize  the  Low  Church  ideas  of  the 
district  in  which  it  was  located.  As  between  the  two. 
Bishop  White  gave  his  support  and  influence  to  the 
New  York  school,  and  in  the  latter  years  of  his  Epis- 
copate was  its  annual  visitor.  He  also  gave  the  part- 
ing address  to  its  students  nearly  every  year  down  to 
the  end  of  his  life. 

At  this  time  the  Church  was  rapidly  increasing 
in  every  diocese.  The  clergy  numbered  about  three 
hundred,  and  the  subscriptions  for  the  New  York  and 
the  Alexandria  schools  showed  that  the  people  were 
ready  to  give  money  for  religious  purposes.  While 
the  General  Convention  of  1820  was  engaged  in  set- 
tling the  permanent  location  of  the  General  Semmary 
in  New  York,  it  also  initiated  the  first  domestic  and  for- 
eign missionary  movement  in  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States,  and  made  the  Presiding  Bishop  the 
head  of  the  society.  It  was  high  time  that  the  Church 
had  put  forth  some  organized  effort  both  at  home  and 
abroad  ;  and  this  society  accomplished  great  good  in  its 
constantly  extending  operations,  for  a  period  of  fifteen 
years.  Then,  at  the  meeting  of  the  General  Conven- 
tion in  1835,  ^he  organization  was  entirely  changed, 
and  the  Church  undertook  and  agreed,  in  her  repre- 
sentative character  as  the  body  of  Christ,  to  carry 
on  the  work  of  Christian  missions.  In  1829  a  Board 
of  Missions  was  organized,  with  two  committees  of 
seven    members    each,  —  one    to   direct   the    Foreign 


WORKING    TO  LARGER  ENDS.  I2I 

Missions,  and  the  other  to  have  charge  of  the 
Domestic  Missions.  The  High  Churchmen  took  the 
home  field,  and  the  Low  Churchmen  the  foreign 
field.  The  latter  concentrated  their  interest  in  the 
Alexandria  Seminary,  while  the  Church  as  a  whole 
bent  its  energies  upon  the  Western  field,  first  sending 
out  a  missionary  leader  to  Wisconsin  to  labour  among 
the  Indians  at  Green  Bay,  and  soon  after  commis- 
sioning Bishop  Kemper  with  the  duty  of  planting 
parishes  in  the   then  undeveloped  Northwest. 

Bishop  White  was  a  comprehensive  man,  and  took  an 
active  interest  in  both  branches  of  the  missionary  work. 
There  was  no  right  or  left  hand  in  his  interest  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.     The  foreign  field  was  under  con- 
sideration as  early  as  June,  1822.     It  was  the  design 
to  establish  a  mission  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa ; 
but  it  was  some  time  before  suitable  men    could    be 
found  to  engage  in   this  work.     At  length   Mr.  John 
Payne,   then  a  student    in    the   Theological    Seminary 
at   Alexandria,    expressed    his    wish    to  go,   when    or- 
dained, as  a  missionary  to  Africa,  and   was  assigned 
to  Cape  Palmas  as  the  field  of  his  labors.     Mr.  Payne 
embarked  for  Africa  on  the   i8th  of  May,  1837,  and 
subsequently  became  Bishop  of  Africa,  where  he  car- 
ried  on  the  work  until  his  death,   many  years    later. 
A   mission   was    also    established    among    the    Greeks 
by  Dr.  Robertson,   afterwards  missionary  at  Constan- 
tinople.    In  the  fall  of  1830  he  was  the  first  to  begm, 
with  the   late  Dr.  Hill,  a  missionary  work  at  Athens, 
which  was  largely  confined  to  the  education  of  poor 
children  of  both  sexes.     His  work  was  not  m  antago- 
nism to  the  Greek   Church,  but  rather  supplementary 


122  BISHOP   WHITE. 

to  it.  A  mission  to  Constantinople  was  undertaken  by 
the  Rev.  Horatio  Southgate,  who  was  appointed  in  No- 
vember, 1835,  an  exploring  missionary  agent  to  this 
and  the  adjacent  countries ;  but  the  result  of  his  work, 
though  not  due  to  any  lack  of  devotion  on  his  part, 
was  not  what  had  been  expected.  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  resolved  to  establish  a  mission 
in  China  on  the  13th  of  May,  1834;  but  it  was  not 
until  the  23d  of  March,  1835,  that  the  Rev.  Francis 
R.  Hanson  embarked  for  Canton  to  organize  this 
work.  Two  years  later  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Boone,  sub- 
sequently consecrated  Bishop  of  Shanghai,  China, 
entered  upon  this  field  as  a  missionary  at  Singapore. 
These  efforts  were  the  fruit  of  the  awakened  zeal  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  at  this  time ;  but  they  were 
feeble  ventures  as  compared  with  the  more  energetic 
development  of  missionary  enterprises  in  the  South 
and  West. 

At  this  time  Bishop  Chase  was  engaged  in  laying 
the  foundations  for  the  Church  in  Ohio.  He  had  been 
consecrated  in  18 19,  returning  to  his  missionary  field 
on  horseback  as  soon  as  the  services  were  over,  and 
zealously  entering  upon  his  Episcopal  duties.  In  182 1 
he  conceived  the  idea  that  the  assistance  of  the  Church 
of  England  might  be  successfully  invoked  in  aid  of 
an  effort  to  establish  a  seminary  designed  to  supply 
the  West  with  ministers,  and  he  determined  to  go 
forth  and  see  what  he  could  do.  Bishop  Hobart, 
whom  he  met  in  New  York  on  his  way  to  England, 
was  strenuously  opposed  to  his  going  abroad  for  this 
purpose.  He  had  little  faith  in  Bishop  Chase's  judg- 
ment and  wisdom,  and  visiting  England  at  the  same 


WORKING    TO  LARGER  ENDS.  123 

time,  he  did  a  great  deal  toward  thwarting  his  mission. 
Bishop  Chase  was  not  a  High  Churchman,  and  this  fact 
had  to  do  with  Bishop  Hobart's  opposition  to  him ; 
but  the  Bishop  of  Ohio  came  back  with  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars  in  1824,  to  which  ten  thousand  more  was 
subsequently  added,  for  the  foundation  of  Kenyon 
College  and  of  the  Gambier  Theological  Seminary  of 
Ohio.  The  very  strong  individuality  which  enabled 
him  to  found  these  institutions  and  take  charge  of 
them,  and  still  act  as  the  head  of  the  diocese,  led  to 
his  resignation  as  President,  and  as  Bishop  of  Ohio, 
in  September,  1831.  He  then  started  for  the  western 
wilderness,  settling  in  Michigan  near  the  borders  of 
Indiana,  and  in  1835  becoming  the  first  Bishop  of  Il- 
linois. He  remained  a  missionary  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  This  was  only  one  field  of  development  in  the 
American   Church. 

As  early  as  181 2,  Bishop  White  had  his  eye  upon 
the  consecration  of  a  bishop  for  the  churches  lying 
beyond  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  Only  once,  in 
June,  1822,  did  he  cross  the  Alleghanies,  and  then 
it  was  too  late  to  repair  the  loss  occasioned  by  the 
neglect  to  enter  earlier  upon  this  great  and  growing 
field.  Bishop  Perry  well  says,  "  Had  the  plea  of  the 
faithful  Doddridge  and  his  few  associates  been  listened 
to  and  their  request  for  a  bishop  granted,  the  Church 
would  have  been  a  leader  in  the  van  of  the  country's 
progress,  and  much  of  the  great  West  would  have  been 
moulded    from  the  start    in    her  holy  ways  !  "  ^     The 

1  The  History  of  the  Americau  Episcopal   Church,  vol.  ii. 
p.  239. 


124  BISHOP    WHITE. 

delay  in  supplying  bishops  for  the  independent  diocese 
was  owing  undoubtedly  to  the  feebleness  of  the  par- 
ishes   in  the   different    States,   and    their    inability  to 
support  a  bishop  if  they  had  one  ;   but  it  was  almost 
fatal  to  the  seizing  of  the  opportune  moment  for  the 
rapid  and  large  growth  of  the  Episcopal  Church.    Even 
in  the  East  the  securing  of  bishops  for  each  State  was 
a  slow  process.     New  Jersey,   dating    its  organization 
back  to  the  year  1775,  had  no  bishop  until  1 8 1 5 .     Dela- 
ware, represented  in  the  earliest  conventions,  had  no 
bishop  until   1841.     North  Carolina,  though  organized 
at  the   start,  in   1790,  on   the  principle  that  a  bishop 
should    be    at    once    secured,    was   without    one    until 
1823.     Maine,  organized  in  1820,  secured  the  Episco- 
pate in  1847.       Georgia  waited  from  1823  to  1841   for 
this    boon.     Mississippi,  where   the  Church  had  been 
begun    during    the    days    of    Spanish    domination    in 
1792,  though  organized  in    1825,  waited   until    1850 
for   its    first    bishop,    the    apostolic    William    Mercer 
Green.      Tennessee,    though    organized    in    1828,   did 
not  receive  the  Episcopate  until  1834;   and  Kentucky, 
which    had    received    the    Church    during   the    earlier 
days  of  its  settlement,  waited  until  1832   for  a  bishop. 
Michigan  had  Church  services  within  its  borders  before 
the  Revolution,  but  was  only  able  to  organize  in  1832, 
and  to  secure  a  bishop  in  1836  ;   and  Missouri  waited 
five    years  longer,  and    Indiana    eleven,    before   these 
feeble   organizations  respectively   received  a  head. 

These  facts  show  how  slowly  the  Episcopal  Church 
advanced  when  it  was  in  the  first  glow  of  prosperity ; 
but  if  the  gains  seem  moderate  to  us,  they  did  not 


WOKKIXG    TO  LARGER   ENDS.  125 

seem  so  to  the  venerable  Bishop  Green,  who  said  when 
he  took  leave  of  the  General  Convention  of  1883  • 
*'  Of  the  Convention  of  1823,  which  met  in  this  city, 
I  alone  am  alive.  When  I  went  into  holy  orders, 
sixty-three  years  ago,  there  were  nine  bishops  in  the 
Church ;  when  I  look  around  me  to-day  in  the  House 
of  Bishops,  I  cast  my  eyes  upon  more  than  seven 
times  that  number.  How  hath  God  wrought  !  His 
blessing  hath  been  upon  the  Church,  and  she  hath 
prospered."  In  1835,  during  the  last  General  Conven- 
tion at  which  Bishop  White  presided,  Jackson  Kemper 
was  consecrated  the  first  Missionary  Bishop  of  the 
Northwest,  and  in  his  sermon  at  this  consecration. 
Bishop  Doane  expressed  the  awakening  to  new  life 
when  he  laid  down  the  principle  that  this  ''  Church 
is  to  be  a  Missionary  Church,  that  her  Bishops  are 
true  Apostles,  and  that  of  this  missionary  body  every 
Christian  by  the  terms  of  his  baptismal  vow  is  a 
member." 


"^   OK  THE 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


LIFOP'-'r-^ 


126  BISHOP  WHITE. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE    RISE    OF    PARTY   SPIRIT. 


From  the  beginning  of  the  existence  of  the  Church 
of  England  in  different  parts  of  the  Atlantic  States 
there  was  a  division  of  sentiment  in  regard  to  Church 
principles.  The  religious  life  of  the  century  before  the 
Revolution  was  toned  down  to  latitudinarianism  and  to 
the  dreary  platitudes  of  the  Hanoverian  period,  but 
early  in  the  nineteenth  century  there  was  an  invigor- 
ating of  the  ecclesiastical  life  in  Connecticut  and  in 
New  York.  It  was  principally  due  to  the  fact  that  in 
both  States  a  great  many  native  Americans  examined 
the  polity  and  principles  of  the  Church  and  entered  into 
its  spiritual  life.  Bishop  Seabury  was  the  representa- 
tive of  this  advance  in  Connecticut,  and  Bishop  Moore, 
who  succeeded  Bishop  Provoost,  and  after  him  Bishop 
Hobart,  made  New  York  the  strong  abiding  place  of 
High  Churchmen.  On  the  other  hand,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  and  Virginia  represented  great  indifference 
to  Church  principles.  There  was  a  certain  loyalty  to 
the  Prayer-book  as  it  was  then  understood  and  inter- 
preted, but  there  was  widespread  laxity  in  follov.-ing  the 
rubrics  and  in  teaching  the  Church  system.  The  surplice 
was  not  commonly  used,  and  the  black  gown  was  every- 
where worn  in  preaching.    Even  the  sacraments  of  the 


THE  RISE   OF  PARTY  SPIRIT  127 

Church  were  infrequently  administered,  the  Holy  Com- 
munion not  more  than  three  or  four  times  a  year,  and 
baptism  only  in  families  where  it  was  desired.  The 
idea  was  that  the  minimum  of  churchly  practices  was 
to  be  desired,  and  that  the  nearer  the  Episcopal  Church 
came  to  the  usages  and  beliefs  of  other  bodies  the 
more  it  was  a  sign  of  true  Christian  unity. 

In  due  time  this  division  of  sentiment  began  to 
assert  itself  in  decided  views  on  Church  questions. 
Bishop  White's  moderate  handling  of  Episcopacy  in 
the  communities  where  he  lived  was  especially  an  at- 
tempt on  his  part  to  prevent  the  raising  of  party  ques- 
tions, and  to  conciliate  persons  who  held  divergent 
views  and  yet  were  within  the  same  religious  body. 
His  celebrated  pamphlet,  devising  an  Episcopal  Church 
with  Episcopacy  left  out,  was  written  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  holding  of  people  together  upon  a  basis  of 
unity  which  would  include  all  the  clergy  in  the  country 
in  1782  ;  though  it  was  far  enough  from  expressing  his 
whole  belief  in  Church  principles.  He  was  a  great 
deal  stronger  Churchman  than  he  seemed  to  be  in 
those  early  days,  though,  in  contrast  to  Bishop  Seabury, 
in  his  desire  to  keep  the  whole  Church  together,  he 
seemed  like  a  moderate  man ;  but  when  party  spirit 
began  to  rage,  and  Philadelphia  became  a  hot-bed  of 
Low  Churchmen,  Bishop  White  was  anything  but  a  party 
man.  He  utterly  refused  to  be  the  spokesman  of  a 
party.  When  he  was  personally  assailed  in  his  Diocesan 
Convention,  his  face  flushed  to  the  roots  of  his  hair,  as 
he  said,  *^  I  had  as  lief  be  called  a  Jew  or  a  Turk  as  a 
Low  Churchman."     One  of  his  clergy  insulted  him  in 


128  BISHOP   WHITE. 

this  Convention  by  saying,  ''We  all  know  that  our 
Bishop  is  not  a  praying  man."  It  was  also  urged  as  an 
evidence  of  his  lack  of  personal  piety  that  he  used 
silver  forks  at  his  table. 

These  remarks  indicate  the  bitterness  which  grew  up 
in  Philadelphia  about  the  year  1825,  and  culminated 
in  the  election  of  Dr.  Henry  U.  Onderdonk  as  Assistant 
Bishop  of  Pennsylvania  on  the  25th  of  October,  1827. 
It  is  not  well  to  go  into  minute  details  concerning  the 
conduct  of  men  who  were  now  first  called  Low  Church- 
men, and  who  distinguished  themselves  by  abusive 
treatment  of  their  venerable  Bishop.  One  of  the  lead- 
ers of  this  party  spirit  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gregory 
T.  Bedell,  the  father  of  the  late  Bishop  Bedell, 
who,  with  the  late  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng  of  New 
York,  were  for  a  long  time  the  leaders  of  the  Low 
Church  party.  Bishop  White  knew  how  to  deal  with 
the  people  who  assailed  him.  He  delivered  an  address 
at  the  opening  of  the  special  Convention  called  to  con- 
sider the  expediency  of  electing  an  Assistant  Bishop, 
which  was  a  masterpiece  of  wise  and  pohtic  advice. 
What  he  feared  was  that  a  Low  Church  bishop  might 
be  chosen,  but  he  strictly  avoided  any  attempt  to  give 
direction  to  the  proceedings,  only  venturing  to  point 
out  what  kind  of  a  man  was  required  in  a  bishop.  He 
must  be  a  man  of  piety,  well  furnished  with  a  know- 
ledge of  theological  literature,  and  attached  to  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  Church,  in  doctrine,  in  worship,  in 
ecclesiastical  constitution,  and  in  government.  He 
states  that  this  sentiment,  on  which  he  had  acted  for 
more  than  half  a  century,  is  "  so  far  from  being  incon- 


THE   RISE   OF  PARTY  SPIRIT.  129 

sistent  with  liberality  to  forms  of  profession  preferred 
by  our  fellow  Christians  of  various  denominations,  that 
it  is  the  only  ground  on  which  peace  and  mutual  good 
will  between  us  can  be  maintained."  He  ventures  to  say 
"  that  he  had  found  the  fruit  of  it  himself  in  the  friend- 
ships of  many  wise  and  pious  persons  whose  sentiments 
on  some  points  differed  materially  from  his  own ; 
whereas,  had  their  theories  been  brought  into  collision 
under  the  same  roofs,  there  is  no  knowing  in  what  de- 
gree there  might  have  been  the  excitement  of  unamiable 
sensations,  nor  to  what  extent  the  consequences  might 
have  been  injurious." 

He  deliberately  faced  the  issue  which  the  Low 
Churchmen  threatened  to  make.     He  said  :  — 

♦'  Could  it  be  supposed  probable,  that  there  will  be  here- 
after a  bishop  of  this  diocese,  who  shall  either  openly  op- 
pose himself  to  the  recited  properties  of  our  communion, 
or  endeavour  to  undermine  them  insidiously  and  by  degrees, 
heavy  will  be  his  responsibility.  Should  his  talents  be 
equal  to  the  meditated  undertaking,  he  may  distract  and 
divide  the  Church,  but  he  will  not  consummate  his  work." 

The  venerable  Bishop  expresses  himself  still  more 
keenly  on  the  possibilities  of  a  partisan  associate  in 
the  Episcopate  when  he  reaches  the  end  of  his  address. 
It  is  visible  in  the  following  words  :  — 

"  Of  the  body  now  assembled,  it  is  trusted  by  him  who 
addresses  them  that  they  will  not  lose  sight  of  the  shape  in 
which  the  recited  points  have  been  brought  before  them. 
It  has  been  the  disclosing  of  a  solicitude  resdng  on  the 
mind  of  the  speaker,  not  merely  as  applicable  to  the  pres- 
ent crisis,  but  as  reaching;  the  concerns  of  the  diocese  when 

9 


130  BISHOP   WHITE. 

his  voice  will  be  heard  in  them  no  more,  and  perhaps  while 
it  may  still  be  heard,  either  by  the  failure  of  a  choice  at  the 
present  meeting  or  by  the  non-compliance  with  it  when  made. 
Having  been  so  long  occupied  in  sustaining  the  principles 
which  have  been  detailed,  and  being  desirous  of  continuing 
his  testimony  whenever  it  shall  be  especially  called  for,  he 
has  conceived  of  the  present  as  an  opportunity  not  to  be  un- 
improved. Could  he  foresee  that  during  the  Episcopacy 
either  now  or  at  any  future  time  the  stated  points  will  be 
either  dismissed  or  disregarded,  he  would  make  some  such 
request  as  that  of  Hagar  in  the  wilderness  in  reference  to 
■what  has  so  long  been  an  object  of  his  anxieties,  of  his 
prayers,  and  of  his  exertions,  — '  Let  me  not  see  the  death 
of  the  child  ! '  " 

At  this  point  the  voice  of  the  Bishop  was  choked 
by  the  violence  of  his  emotion,  and  it  was  some  time 
before  he  could  go  on. 

As  early  as  1823  the  Low  Churchmen  in  Pennsyl- 
vania had  begun  to  marshal  their  forces  as  a  party,  and 
the  first  manifestation  of  their  power  was  shown  in  the 
Diocesan  Convention  of  that  year  in  the  election  of 
delegates  to  the   General  Convention.      In  the   year 

1824,  during  the  sitting  of  the  Convention  at  Norris- 
town,  the  lines  were  more  strictly  drawn,  and  in  the  year 

1825,  though  there  was  no  open  collision  between 
the  two  parties,  they  were  evidently  measuring  their 
strength  against  one  another.  When  Bishop  White,  be- 
ing then  nearly  eighty  years  of  age,  proposed  that  an 
Assistant  Bishop  should  be  chosen  by  the  diocese,  he 
gave  expression  to  his  solicitude  in  the  address  the 
substance  of  which  has  already  been  quoted.  The 
anxiety  which  he  betrayed  in  that  document  was  fully 


THE  RISE    OF  PARTY  SPIRIT  131 

justified  by  what  took  place.  The  candidate  of  the 
Low  Churchmen  was  Rev.  William  Meade,  afterwards 
the  Bishop  of  Virginia,  and  the  two  parties  were  so 
evenly  divided  that  no  election  was  possible.  After 
this  test  of  their  strength,  Mr.  Meade  declined  to  be  a 
candidate,  and  at  a  subsequent  Convention  the  Rev. 
Henry  U.  Onderdonk,  D.D.,  was  elected  to  this  office. 
This  did  not  allay  the  irritation  of  the  Low  Church- 
men. They  had  been  beaten,  but  they  were  not  ready 
to  accept  the  situation.  Before  the  Convention  met 
at  Harrisburg,  at  which  Dr.  Onderdonk  was  elected, 
five  Low  Churchmen  sent  out  a  confidential  circular  in 
order  to  strengthen  the  members  of  their  party  and  to 
gather  fresh  recruits ;  but  they  were  not  strong  enough  to 
elect  their  candidate,  after  INIr.  Meade  had  withdrawn 
from  the  contest. 

The  pamphlet  literature  then  issued  is  a  present  tes- 
timony to  the  war  of  words  which  was  carried  on  be- 
tween individuals  at  this  time.  The  Rev.  William  H. 
De  Lancey  wrote  a  telling  pamphlet  under  the  signa- 
ture of  ''Plain  Truth,"  which  was  answered  by  the 
other  party.  He  was  then  the  minister  at  St.  Peter's, 
under  Bishop  White,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  in 
this  controversy  with  great  plainness  of  what  the  other 
party  was  doing.  He  wrote  two  or  three  other  pam- 
phlets before  the  controversy  was  over.  There  is  more 
truth  than  fiction  in  the  following  passage,  taken  from 
his  second  pamphlet,  in  which  he  describes  the  treat- 
ment of  the  aged  Bishop  :  — 

"The  ruthless   hand    of    party  excitement   has  spared 
neither  his  character,  his  feelings,  nor  liis  principles.     He 


132  BISHOP  WHITE. 

has  lived  to  see  a  few  misguided  youths,  to  all  of  whom  he 
had  extended  a  cordial  hand  of  welcome,  when  at  different 
but  not  remote  intervals  they  entered  his  diocese,  and  to 
none  of  whom  has  lie  ever  manifested  the  least  unkind- 
ness,  leagued  together  in  hostility  against  him,  raising  be- 
fore his  very  face  the  standard,  and  proclaiming  in  his  very 
ears  the  notes  of  dehberate  and  determined  opposition ; 
and  now,  because  there  are  some  who  have  not  yet  laid 
aside  their  veneration  for  age,  their  affection  for  his  per- 
son, and  their  respect  for  his  principles,  he  is  held  up  by 
one  of  the  champions  of  the  party,  who  has  been  not 
one  year  within  the  diocese,  as  an  object  of  mockery  and 
ridicule." 

The  language  which  these  men  applied  to  Bishop 
White  is  not  worth  quoting  at  this  distance  of  time, 
but  an  incident  Is  mentioned  by  Dr.  De  Lancey  in  his 
reference  to  the  proceedings  of  the  special  Convention 
of  1826,  in  his  first  pamphlet,  which  shows  the  spirit 
of  the  Low  Churchmen  in  that  early  day  better  than 
anything  else.     He  writes  :  — 

"  In  the  course  of  the  session  of  that  body,  the  Right 
Rev  Bishop  White  was  deliberately  told  by  a  layman  [Mr. 
S.  J.  Robbins],  of  the  most  active  description  among  those 
who  are  self-styled  evangelical,  that  the  reason  why  he  [the 
layman]  had  opposed  a  proposition  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  accelerate  the  organization  of  the  Convention  was,  that 
he  thought  the  Bishop  would  not  act  impartially  in  the 
selection  of  the  committee.  The  answer  of  the  venerable 
prelate  of  eighty  years,  to  this  gross  indignity,  was,  '  I  thank 
you  for  the  good  opinion  you  entertain  of  me.'  " 

This  insult,  publicly  offered,  was  never  publicly  re- 
tracted.    The  activity  of  the  Bishop's  enemies  did  not 


THE   RISE    OF  PARTY  SPIRIT.  133 

stop  when  Dr.  Onclerdonk  had  been  elected.  They 
sent  a  remonstrance  to  the  bishops  to  prevent,  if  pos- 
sible, his  consecration,  and  it  was  exceedingly  doubtful 
up  to  the  23d  of  October,  1827,  whether  they  would 
be  justified  in  proceeding  with  the  service  :  but  the 
day  before  it  was  to  take  place  each  bishop  who  was 
to  have  a  part  in  the  consecration  put  on  record  his 
testimony  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  charges  that 
had  been  made  against  Dr.  Onderdonk,  or  against  the 
method  pursued  in  his  election,  which  forbade  his  being 
advanced  to  the  Episcopate  ;  and  on  the  25th  of  Octo- 
ber the  consecration  took  place. 

Thus  ended  a  bitter  and  protracted  contest,  the  first 
and  only  one  which  took  place  in  Pennsylvania  in  Bishop 
White's  lifetime,  a  struggle  that  caused  him  a  great 
deal  of  worry  and  anxiety,  and  indicated  that  he  had  a 
hot-bed  of  religious  strife  in  his  own  diocese.  Many  of 
the  Low  Churchmen  who  were  engaged  in  this  contest 
lived  to  be  heartily  ashamed  of  their  conduct,  and  the 
venerable  Bishop  left  behind  him  papers  which  amply 
vindicate  his  own  course  at  every  point  where  charges 
were  brought  against  him.  It  may  seem  unwise  to 
mention  this  contest  here,  but  it  was  the  first  outbreak 
of  a  party  which  has  been  in  the  past  antagonistic  to 
the  development  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  which 
in  the  days  of  its  numerical  strength  was  a  constant 
source  of  irritation  and  trouble  in  the  growth  of  the 
Church.  It  would  be  at  the  expense  of  historical 
truthfulness  if  its  doings  at  this  time  were  ignored.  The 
best  testimony  to  the  impartiality  of  Bishop  White  in 
the  management  of  his  diocese   is  that   he  controlled, 


134  BISHOP  WHITE. 

without  suppressing,  the  operations  of  this  party,  which 
had  its  stronghold  in  the  diocese  of  Pennsylvania. 
Until  187 1,  when  the  power  of  the  Low  Church  party 
was  broken,  its  latest  throes  as  a  body  having  been  man- 
ifested in  the  New  York  Convention  of  1874,  it  was 
constantly  an  irritating  element  in  the  work  of  the 
Episcopal  Church.  It  set  up  claims  which  could  not 
be  maintained  in  a  candid  interpretation  of  the  Prayer- 
book,  and  it  was  a  constant  vexation  within  a  Com- 
munion which  was  not  strong  enough  to  support  hostile 
societies,  and  keep  up  a  party  warfare  within  itself.^ 

1  The  story  of  the  election  of  the  first  Assistant  Bishop  in 
the  American  Church,  here  briefly  told,  is  given  at  great  length 
and  with  all  the  party  colouring  of  a  heated  contest  in  Dr.  John 
Henry  Hopkins's  "Life  of  Bishop  Hopkins;"  and  a  complete 
collection  of  the  pamphlets  and  broadsides  and  circulars  then 
issued  has  been  preserved  by  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Montgomery,  who 
is  the  family  custodian  of  the  Bishop  White  papers.  As  a  piece 
of  inside  history,  and  as  an  account  of  the  rise  of  party  spirit 
in  the  American  Church,  the  story  of  this  contest  is  deeply 
interesting. 


REMINISCENCES.  135 


CHAPTER  XI. 

REMINISCENCES. 

Dr.  SPR-A.GUE  in  his  "  Annals  of  the  American  Pul- 
pit "  contributes  a  brief  account  of  two  interviews 
with  Bishop  White,  which  in  the  dearth  of  information 
regarding  his  personality  is  very  welcome.  He  says  : 
*'  I  had  the  pleasure  of  a  slight  acquaintance  with 
Bishop  White,  sufficient  to  render  him  an  object  of 
my  enduring  gratitude  and  veneration.  I  was  first  in- 
troduced to  him  in  1816,  by  a  letter  from  a  lady  in 
Virginia,  between  whom  and  himself  there  had  long 
existed  an  intimate  friendship ;  and  the  kind  and 
genial  manner  in  which  I  was  received  by  him  satis- 
fied me  that  I  could  not  have  presented  myself  under 
better  auspices.  His  person  seemed  to  me  majestic. 
His  countenance  was  divided  between  intelligence  and 
loveliness,  and  occasionally  it  would  light  up  into  a 
fountain  of  sunbeams.  The  almond  tree  was  in  full 
blossom.  His  manner  was  so  simple  and  natural  and 
yet  so  cultivated ;  so  dignified  and  yet  so  bland  and 
winning,  and  his  conversation  was  so  rich  and  edifying, 
and  withal  such  a  revelation  of  the  past,  that  it  really 
seemed  to  me  that  I  had  then  never  stood  in  a  pres- 
ence in  which  all  the  virtues  and  all  the  graces  were 
brought    together  in  such  goodly  fellowship.      I  had 


n6  BISHOP   WHITE, 


another  interview  with  him,  a  few  years  after  I  entered 
the  ministry,  which  only  confirmed  my  previous  impres- 
sions of  the  beauty  and  elevation  of  his  character.  I 
had  occasion  also,  at  two  or  three  different  periods,  to 
ask  favours  of  him,  and  they  were  granted  as  cheer- 
fully and  promptly  as  if  I  had  always  sustained  to  him 
the  relation  of  an  intimate  friend.  His  whole  char- 
acter seemed  to  me  radiant  with  wisdom,  dignity,  and 
purity."  ^ 

Dr.  Henry  U.  Onderdonk,  who  was  chosen  in  1827 
as  the  Assistant  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania,  furnished  Dr. 
Sprague  with  the  following  reminiscences  :  — 

"  Bishop  White's  theological  opinions  are  contained  in 
his  several  works  ;  they  were  decidedly  anti-Calvinistic, 
and  may  be  classed  with  what  was  currently  denomi- 
nated xA.rminianism  in  the  last  century,  which,  however, 
you  are  aware,  was  not  the  system  of  Arminius.  He  was, 
to  the  last,  strongly  opposed  to  the  theory  comprised 
in  the  words.  Priest,  Altar,  Sacrifice ;  this  being  one  of 
the  very  few  points  on  which  he  was  highly  sensitive. 
The  good  Bishop's  ecclesiastical  views  were  those 
known  in  history  as  Low  Church ;  it  was  not  the  Low- 
Churchmanship  of  the  present  day,  but  that  of  Tillot- 
son,  Burnet,  and  that  portion  of  the  English  Divines 
with  which  they  were  associated.  He  regarded  with  no 
favour  stimulating  methods,  extempore  prayer,  devia- 
tions from  the  Liturgy,  etc.  Yet,  though  stern  against 
the  priestly  doctrine,  as  well  as  decidedly  averse  to 
modern  Low-Churchmanship,  he  was,  on  the  other 
hand,  most  particularly  attached  to  Bishop  Hobart,  and 

1  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  vol.  v.  p.  2S4. 


REMINISCENCES.  1 3  7 

very  largely  under  his  influence,  except  in  the  few  mat- 
ters of  which  he  was  eminently  tenacious ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  was  not  only  courteous,  but  altogether 
friendly  with  leaders  on  the  opposite  side.  In  which 
facts  may  plainly  enough  be  read  the  almost  unbounded 
amiableness  of  his  temper  and  principles. 

"Bishop  White  was  prominent  in  organizing  the 
American  Episcopal  Church.  That  he  was  equally  so 
in  arranging  the  Prayer-book  is  not  probable.  He  was 
on  the  Committee  that  formed  what  is  called  the  *  Pro- 
posed Book,'  which  soon  passed  away,  and  of  which 
Dr.  William  Smith  [the  elder]  was,  I  have  no  doubt, 
the  chief  projector,  —  he  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee and  received  a  special  vote  of  thanks,  in  1785. 
Our  present  Liturgy  is  but  the  English  one,  with  unim- 
portant changes,  except  the  addition  to  the  Communion 
Service,  which  is  due  to  Bishop  Seabury,  and  to  which 
Bishop  White  was  opposed,  though  yielding  to  the 
urgency  of  his  compeer.  The  Institution  Office  is 
later,  and  the  production  of  Dr.  William  Smith,  the 
younger. 

"  There  was  no  reserve  with  Bishop  White  in  avowing 
his  age,  but,  till  within  a  few  years  of  his  death,  he 
was  very  unwilling  to  be  thought  feeble.  A  consider- 
able time  before  I  came  to  Philadelphia,  his  vestries, 
I  understand,  had  released  him  from  attending  fune- 
rals; but  I  almost  always,  in  those  at  which  I  was 
present,  observed  him,  not  among  the  clergy,  but  in 
the  general  train  of  followers.  He  did  not  like  that 
any  one  should  accompany  him  home  in  the  evening. 
On  one  occasion  I  was  doing  so,   yet  endeavoring  to 


138  BISHOP   WHITE. 

conceal  my  purpose.  At  length,  finding  that  I  went 
several  squares  out  of  the  way  to  my  house,  he  stopped, 
and  turning  to  me,  said,  '  I  believe  I  must  tell  you,  as 
General  Washington  once  did  some  friends,  ''  Gentle- 
men, if  you  see  me  home,  I  shall  see  you  home."  '  It 
was  but  a  few  years  before  his  death  that  he  began  to 
use  a  cane.  For  a  year  or  two  he  accepted,  in  walk- 
ing, the  arm  of  his  son."  ^ 

Bishop  Alonzo  Potter,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Onder- 
donk  in  the  Pennsylvania  Episcopate,  also  helped  Dr. 
Sprague  to  important  materials  for  a  sketch  of  Bishop 
White.     He  says  :  — 

"  When  about  eighteen  years  old  I  came  to  Phila- 
delphia [in  1818],  having  just  graduated  at  College, 
and  during  some  eight  or  nine  months  I  saw  a  good 
deal  of  Bishop  White.  My  impressions  of  him  were 
the  more  vivid,  as  I  was  at  this  time  baptized  and 
confirmed  by  him,  and  received  my  first  communion 
at  his  hands.  He  was  then,  I  think,  somewhat  past 
seventy,  in  full  health,  perfectly  erect,  and  without  any 
of  the  attenuation  of  age.  His  face  was  singularly 
benignant  and  beautiful,  though  it  had,  perhaps,  less 
of  the  surprising  grace  and  gentleness  which  charac- 
terized his  later  years,  and  which  have  been  so  ex- 
quisitely preserved  by  the  artist  Inman.  I  saw  him 
often  in  the  pulpit  and  chancel,  in  a  book-store  which 
he  frequented  almost  daily,  and  occasionally  in  private 
houses.  Becoming  also,  at  this  time,  a  candidate  for 
the  ministry,  I  enjoyed  his  supervision  and  counsel  in 

1  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  vol.  v.  p.  285. 


REMINISCENCES.  1 3  9 

my  theological  studies,  although  my  immediate  pre- 
ceptor was  the  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Turner,  now  Dr.  Turner, 
of  the  General  Theological  Seminary  in  New  York.  After 
a  few  months  I  left  Philadelphia,  and  from  that  time  to 
the  close  of  his  life  I  met  him  only  occasionally,  at 
meetings  of  the  Board  of  Missions  and  at  the  sessions 
of  the  General  Convention.  I  mention  these  facts  to 
show  how  far  my  opportunities  of  observing  him 
reached. 

"  One  trait  in  his  character  struck  me  immediately,  — 
it  was  the  absence  of  self-consciousness.  Beyond  any 
one  then  livmg,  he  was  the  object,  throughout  Philadel- 
phia, among  people  of  every  religious  denomination, 
of  respect  and  affection.  This  was  very  apparent  when 
he  appeared  in  the  streets.  But  he  was  not  a  man  who 
loved  greetings  in  the  market  places,  and  to  be  called 
of  men  '  Rabbi,  Rabbi.'  He  therefore  betrayed  no 
sense  of  his  own  consequence.  He  invited  no  salutations, 
although  he  was  never  wanting  in  a  proper  recognition 
of  them.  He  moved  along  very  quietly,  and  generally 
at  a  slow  place,  and  was,  I  do  not  doubt,  entirely  igno- 
rant of  a  thousand  little  demonstrations  of  regard  and 
veneration,  which  a  man  of  morbid  self-esteem  would 
have  been  prompt  to  discover  and  rejoice  in.  In  his 
public  ministrations  and  in  private  intercourse  it  was 
the  same.  He  never  claimed  anything  for  himself. 
His  opinions,  though  delivered  with  the  air  of  a  man 
who  held  them  clearly  and  decidedly,  were,  to  a  sin- 
gular extent,  devoid  of  anything  peremptory  or  exact- 
ing. No  man  was  more  tolerant  of  differences  of 
opinion,  and  some  of  his  most  cherished  and  unbroken 


I40  BISHOP  WHITE. 

friendships  were  with  men  (hke  Bishop  Hobart)  from 
whom  he  differed  materially  up  to  the  close  of  his 
life. 

"  His  public  ministrations  were  not,  at  this  time, 
very  attractive  to  a  youth.  His  delivery  was  monot- 
onous, though  few  voices  had  greater  sweetness  or  ap- 
parent flexibility.  His  style  was  deficient  in  point  and 
force,  and  the  models  on  which  he  had  unconsciously 
formed  himself  were  not  favourable  to  a  bold  and  com- 
manding eloquence.  No  one,  however,  not  even  an 
mimature  young  man  like  myself,  could  listen  to  him 
with  attention  without  knowing  that  he  was  receiv- 
ing the  admonitions  and  instructions  of  a  wise  and 
good  man.  He  was  a  well-read  theologian,  of  the 
school  of  Burnet  and  Tillotson,  with  more  of  patristic 
learning  than  was  at  all  common  in  those  days  either 
in  England  or  in  this  country.  There  were  few  ques- 
tions, either  among  those  which  had  divided  his  own 
Church,  or  those  which  had  separated  her  from  the 
Church  of  Rome  on  the  one  side  and  from  other 
Protestant  bodies  on  the  other,  which  he  did  not  seem 
to  have  considered  carefully ;  and  the  results  of  his 
reading  and  reflection  dropped  richly  from  him  in  his 
sermons,  but  in  a  manner  so  unobtrusive,  and  one 
might  almost  say  so  shy,  that  it  often  escaped  notice. 

"  In  private  he  was  exceedingly  instructive  and 
entertaining.  He  abounded  in  anecdote,  which  he  told 
with  evident  self-enjoyment.  His  fund  of  information 
seemed  inexhaustible.  He  had  read  largely  in  the 
solid  English  writers  of  the  last  two  centuries,  —  his- 
torians, statesmen,  and    philosophers.      His    memory 


REMINISCENCES.  141 

seemed  to  give  him  perfect  command  of  whatever  he 
had  read.  He  was,  to  an  uncommon  degree,  consci- 
entious in  his  statements,  as  well  as  in  giving  his  opin- 
ions. Shortly  before  leaving  Philadelphia,  I  called  to 
take  my  leave  of  him,  and,  while  thanking  him  for  his 
kindness,  I  ventured  to  ask  his  opinion  on  a  point 
which  has  much  divided  theologians,  and  about  which 
I  imagined  he  might  not  be  over  anxious  to  commit 
himself.  His  answer  was  brief,  but  clear,  and  left  me  no 
doubt  that  he  held  substantially  the  opinions  that  were 
imputed  to  him.  On  the  following  evening  I  attended 
service  at  a  church  where  he  was  present,  and  was  sent 
for  to  come  to  him  as  the  congregation  retired.  He 
then  stated  that,  in  reflecting  on  the  conversation  of 
the  previous  day,  he  had  some  doubt  whether  he  had 
made  himself  perfectly  understood.  He  therefore  re- 
ferred me  to  a  passage  in  one  of  the  books  of  Hooker's 
'  Ecclesiastical  Polity,'  as  expressing  with  greater  ful- 
ness and  precision  his  own  opinions. 

"  I  should  do  him  and  my  own  recollections  great 
injustice,  if  I  conveyed  the  impression  that  he  held  his 
opinions  haltingly,  or  was  timid  in  the  expression  of 
them.  He  abhorred  contention,  and  often  therefore 
restrained  himself  when  he  thought  speaking  or  writing 
was  more  likely  to  gender  strife  than  to  advance  truth. 
He  had,  moreover,  a  wide  mind,  and  could  see  the 
strong  points  of  an  adversary,  so  that  he  was  not  in 
haste  to  charge  all  who  differed  from  him  with  wanting 
honesty  or  intelligence.  He  was  also  pre-eminently 
gentle  and  kind,  and  from  the  earliest  years  of  his 
childhood  he  had   felt  upon  his  own  heart  a  sense  of 


142  BISHOP   WHITE. 

the  Divine  Presence.  Such  a  temper  and  experience 
necessarily  qualified  his  views  of  practical  and  theoret- 
ical religion.  He  could  not  well,  under  any  circum- 
stances, have  been  a  passionate  follower  of  Augustine 
in  theology,  or  of  Wesley  or  Whitefield  in  their  views 
of  experimental  piety.  The  opinions,  however,  which 
he  did  hold,  he  never  hesitated  to  avow,  whenever  he 
thought  the  interests  of  men  required  it.  One  of  his 
last  acts  was  to  deliver  a  charge,  entitled  '  The  Past 
and  the  Future,'  which  was  as  creditable  to  his  moral 
courage  as  it  was  to  his  foresight. 

"  In  respect  to  his  courage,  few  men  were  ever  more 
favoured.  The  horrors  of  pestilence,  whether  in  the 
shape  of  yellow  fever  or  Asiatic  cholera,  had  no  effect 
on  him,  when  duty  called  him  to  encounter  them.  He 
sent  his  family  to  a  distance,  and  gave  night  and  day 
to  the  offices  of  religion,  by  the  bed-side  of  the  sick 
and  over  the  graves  of  the  dead.  Few  spectacles  have 
had  more  of  the  moral  sublime  than  was  presented  by 
this  aged  Bishop,  verging  on  fourscore  and  five  years, 
and  yet  daily  taking  his  rounds  among  the  victims  of 
cholera,  in  1832,  when  many  a  younger  clergyman  felt 
authorized  to  withdraw  altogether  from  the  perilous 
contact. 

"  He  never  courted  danger ;  he  never  shrank  from 
it  when  it  came  hand  in  hand  v/ith  duty.  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  Revolution,  he  was  about  to  retire  to  Mary- 
land, but  hearing,  on  the  road,  that  he  had  been  chosen 
Chaplain  to  the  Continental  Congress,  he  instantly 
turned  his  horse's  head  towards  Philadelphia,  without 
stopping  to  take  leave  of  his  family.     In  his  intercourse 


REMINISCENCES.  143 

with  men,  even  those  whom  he  most  respected,  he  was 
equally  dauntless.  The  following  is  an  incident  in 
point :  He  was  proverbially  punctual.  On  two  suc- 
cessive occasions  a  board  to  which  he  belonged  failed 
to  make  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business,  be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  one  or  two  distinguished  gen- 
tlemen, who,  he  knew,  might  have  been  present  without 
inconvenience.  He  expressed  his  indignation  that  he 
and  his  associates  should  be  thus  trifled  with,  and  avowed 
his  determination  to  move,  at  the  first  opportunity,  a 
standing  rule  that  trustees  thus  absent,  without  suf- 
ficient cause,  should  be  understood  to  have  vacated 
their  seats.  At  the  next  meeting,  both  these  gentle- 
men being  present,  and  both  his  personal  friends,  he 
made  the  motion,  and  was  with  difficulty  dissuaded 
from  pressing  it  to  a  vote. 

"  During  the  winter  of  1818,  which  I  passed  in  Phil- 
adelphia, two  bishops  were  consecrated  at  Christ  Church 
by  Bishop  White,  —  Chase  of  Ohio,  and  Bowen  of  South 
Carolina.  These  solemnities  brought  together  several  of 
his  Episcopal  brethren,  such  as  Bishop  Hobart  of  New 
York,  Bishop  Kemp  of  Maryland,  and  Bishop  Croes  of 
New  Jersey.  It  was  delightful  to  see  the  habitual  def- 
erence and  the  earnest  affection  with  which  they  all  re- 
garded him ;  and  to  a  young  man,  a  stranger  to  the 
world,  it  was  particularly  striking  to  contrast  the  char- 
acters of  these  men,  and  to  observe,  when  they  came 
together,  how  the  contrasts  became  blended  and  har- 
monized through  the  presence  and  benignant  influence 
of  the  Legislator  and  Sage  of  the  Church.  When  seeing 
Bishop  White  with  Bishop  Hobart,  I  have  often  thought 


144  BISHOP   WHITE. 

of  Melancthon  and  Luther,  the  one  made  for  counsel, 
the  other  for  action  :  the  one  meek,  erudite,  far- seeing, 
philosophical ;  the  other  impulsive,  bold,  prompt,  with 
a  sway  over  men  rarely  surpassed. 

''  His  career  was  long,  and  as  felicitous  as  long.  No 
man  had  more  unbroken  health.  The  late  Dr.  Chap- 
man once  told  me  that  Bishop  White  was  the  only 
man  he  had  ever  seen  who  could  eat  all  kinds  of  food, 
at  all  times,  and  in  any  quantity,  and  do  it  with  im- 
punity. Born  in  Philadelphia,  a  resident  of  it  for 
eighty-eight  years,  decided  in  all  his  opinions,  religious 
and  political,  he  had  yet,  when  he  came  to  die,  no 
enemy,  and  all  good  men  claimed  to  be  his  friends. 
The  streets  through  which  his  remains  passed  were 
like  one  hall  of  mourning,  and  his  picture  now  stands 
side  by  side  with  those  of  Washington  and  Lafayette 
in  the  Hall  of  Independence.  The  late  Charles 
Chauncey,  whom  you  knew,  and  whose  praise  is  on 
the  tongue  of  every  Philadelphian,  assured  me  that, 
though  a  decided  Presbyterian,  he  and  Bishop  White 
had  lived  next  door  neighbours  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury with  no  feelings  but  those  of  the  frankest  and 
warmest  cordiality.  They  usually  came  out  of  their 
doors  at  the  same  time  on  Sunday  morning,  and  walked 
together  a  square  or  two,  when  they  separated  to  go  to 
their  respective  places  of  worship.  The  only  subject 
on  which  he  ever  remembered  that  they  differed  mate- 
rially, was  one  respecting  the  union  of  different  reli- 
gious bodies  for  the  publication  of  tracts  and  the 
establishment  of  Sunday  Schools,  and  he  had  seen 
reason,  since  the  Bishop's  death,  to  conclude  that  his 
was  the  better  opinion  of  the  two. 


REMINISCENCES.  I45 

*'  He  was  by  education  and  temperament  much 
averse  to  excitement;  and  yet  few  men  saw  earlier 
and  with  more  complacency  that  an  era  of  greater 
religious  earnestness  and  activity  was  impending,  or 
did  more  to  prepare  his  own  Communion  for  it.  He 
was,  from  the  first,  a  decided  friend  of  every  effort 
to  enlist  that  Communion  in  the  work  of  Missions,  at 
home  and  abroad ;  and  some  of  the  strongest  papers 
which  he  drew  during  the  last  few  years  of  his  life 
were  instructions  to  the  earliest  representatives  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States  in  foreign 
lands.  He  was  also  devoted,  from  the  first,  to  efforts 
for  the  amelioration  of  prison-discipline,  the  educa- 
tion of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  the  instruction  of  the 
blind,  the  reformation  of  abandoned  women,  and  the 
care  of  orphans  and  destitute  aged  persons.  As 
the  early  *  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend '  of  our 
Episcopal  Church,  when  it  emerged,  a  mere  wreck, 
from  the  War  of  Independence,  we  see,  every  year, 
more  occasion  to  admire  his  wisdom,  activity,  and 
patience.  As  a  theological  writer  he  made  con- 
tributions to  literature  more  valuable  than  is  gen- 
erally known,  and  among  his  unpublished  works  are 
some  abler  and  more  elaborate  than  any  of  his  yet 
printed,  particularly  a  voluminous  '  Reply  to  Barclay's 
Apology.* 

"As  the  first  Bishop  of  this  Diocese,  he  gave  a 
direction  to  the  opinions  and  policy  of  his  people, 
wherever  he  went,  for  which  his  successors  will  have 
reason  to  bless  his  memory  for  many  generations. 
He  was  a  man  without  guile.     He  was  just  and  gentle, 

lO 


146  BISHOP    WHITE. 

yet   inflexible.      He  lived  for  duty,  and   died  in  the 
serene  hope  and  faith  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  ^ 

The  Hon.  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll,  who  was  a  promi- 
nent Churchman  in  Philadelphia,  and  a  constant 
hearer  of  the  Bishop's  preaching  in  Old  Christ  Church, 
supplied  Dr.  Sprague  with  a  lengthy  account  of  his 
work  as  a  preacher,  and  also  furnished  some  details 
concerning  him  which  are  too  important  to  be  omitted. 
He  says  :  — 

"  His  office  as  a  Christian  minister  was  a  pledge 
for  continued  exertions  in  a  holy  cause,  and  when 
he  became  a  bishop,  his  duties  were  only  enlarged 
and  multiplied,  without  being  altered  in  their  great 
and  solemn  purpose.  He  was,  indeed,  constantly 
imparting  instruction.  His  sermons,  like  his  con- 
duct, served,  as  they  were  meant  to  do,  not  for  his 
own  display,  but  for  the  benefit  of  others.  In  their 
preparation  and  revisal  they  received  the  advantage 
of  unceasing  reflection  and  study;  and  by  purify- 
ing the  hearts  and  enlightening  the  understandings 
of  those  who  listened  to  them,  he  was  himself  a 
learner.  His  mind  was  stored  with  wisdom  gathered 
for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  and  his  heart  was  kept 
pure  by  the  lessons  of  purity  which  he  taught.  The 
accumulation  of  his  knowledge  was  extensive,  although, 
in  his  own  view,  it  was  not  collected  exactly  in  what 
he  would  have  called  his  study.  He  was  practically 
and  essentially  a  student,  and  he  became  wiser  by  his 

1  Sprague's  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  vol.  v.  pp.  285- 
288. 


REMINISCENCES.  147 

faithful  endeavours  to  make  others  wise.  These  dis- 
courses from  the  pulpit  derived  their  merit  chiefly 
from  their  own  innate  and  intrinsic  wisdom  and  piety. 
No  attempt  was  made  to  lend  them  force  or  impres- 
siveness  by  the  charms  of  oratory.  He  did  not  be- 
lieve that  gesticulation  was  natural  to  him,  and  no 
gestures  were  used.  The  sermon,  in  the  shape  of 
a  small  book,  was  held  in  the  hand  of  the  reader,  and 
there  was  remarkable  uniformity  in  its  length,  which 
appeared  to  be  accurately  measured  by  the  number 
of  pages  devoted  to  the  manuscript.  All  that  could 
be  regarded  as  mere  manner  was  avoided,  or  at  least 
unused.  In  whatever  sense  the  lesson  of  the  Grecian 
Orator  may  be  understood,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
give  the  name  of  action  to  anything  that  was  exhibited. 
Yet  this  style,  so  far  from  ornamental,  and  so  pecu- 
liarly marked  by  its  simplicity,  —  this  delivery  so 
foreign  from  the  arts  of  elocution,  as  they  are  gener- 
ally practised,  —  did  not  deprive  the  sermons  of  their 
attractiveness.  They  were  probably  far  more  attrac- 
tive than  they  would  have  been  if  attempts  to  adorn 
them  with  ill-adapted  figures  of  speech,  or  to  bestow 
upon  them  animation  by  more  spirited  delivery,  had 
been  indulged  or  introduced.  The  late  Judge  Wash- 
ington said  that  he  had  been  in  the  habit,  during  his 
official  visits  to  Philadelphia,  of  following  Bishop 
White  from  church  to  church,  as  he  preached  con- 
secutively in  the  several  united  churches  of  which  he 
was  the  rector.  His  discourses  in  the  pulpit,  and  on 
other  occasions  of  official  duty,  were  no  less  sound 
and  holy  than  his  life  was  pure. 


148  BISHOP   WHITE. 

"  Precept  and  example  were,  in  his  preaching  and 
living,   beautiful    handmaids    of  each   other.     In   the 
tone  and  tendency  of  each  there  was  a   striking  re- 
semblance.     A    dignified    simpHcity    not    unequally 
characterized    both.     All   of  his   movements,  whether 
self-guiding,  or  calculated  for  external  influence,  were 
towards  virtue.     He  felt  little  cause  for  self-reproof, 
and  it  scarcely  occurred  to  him,  in  the  gentleness  of 
his  spirit,  to  suspect  the  existence  of  grievous  causes 
for  rebuke  in  those  about  him.     His  sermons  partook 
of  instruction  and  guidance,  rather  than  of  censure  or 
remonstrance.     His  daily  habits  were  those  of  peace 
and  good-will.     With  uniform  cheerfulness  of  disposi- 
tion in  his  ov/n  bosom,  he  found  himself,  for  the  most 
part,  in  the  midst  of  corresponding  cheerfulness.     No 
one  had  more  reason  to  rejoice  in  the  influence  and 
contagion  of  an  amiable  temper,  which,  while  it  excites 
no  counteracting  or  unhappy  feeling  in  familiar  inter- 
course, is  comparatively  free  from  the  danger  of  en- 
countering  it.      If  ever   man   made    his   own   moral 
atmosphere,    it   was    Bishop   White.      There   was   no 
austerity  about  him.     He  well  knew,  not  only  that  vir- 
tues and  vices  are  antipodes  of  each  other,  but  that 
virtues  themselves,  when  driven  beyond  their  nature, 
lose  their  value   and  even  their  name.      Superstition 
and  intolerance  and   persecution    are  not  piety,   any 
more  than  avarice  is  frugality,  or  extravagance  liberal- 
ity.    He  used  the  world  without  abusing  it.     Many 
persons  to  whom  written  lessons  might  have  been  un- 
known, however  salutary  in  their  nature,  saw  and  prof- 
ited by  the  remarkable  illustration.     His  own  home 


REMINISCENCES.  149 

was  the  abode  of  a  generous  and  well-directed  hos- 
pitality, and  he  partook  without  hesitation  of  hospitality 
abroad.  He  was  met  in  frequent,  although  not  indis- 
criminate, social  intercourse.  He  shared  in  it  from 
principle,  as  well  as  from  good  feeling,  believing  that 
excess  might  be  made  less  probable  by  the  occasional 
or  habitual  presence  and  association  of  those  who 
scrupulously  avoided  it.  He  never  forgot  the  decorum 
and  amiable  and  unaffected  dignity  which  became  his 
public  character. 

"The  tendencies  and  habits  of  Bishop  White  did 
not  appear  to  undergo  any  material  change  with  his 
advancing  years.  He  was  ready  and  willing  and  able 
to  put  forth  his  mental  strength  as  long  as  it  should 
last,  and  it  did  happily  last  until  the  evening  of  a 
greatly  prolonged  life.  His  unexhausted  fertility  of 
mind  and  performance  of  duty  were  remarkable.  It 
is  said  that  the  fact  could  scarcely  be  believed  by  his 
brother  Churchmen  in  England,  that  the  Bishop  of  the 
Diocese  of  Pennsylvania  preached  every  Sunday  with- 
out fail ;  and  when  it  was  added  that  he  had  numbered 
at  the  time  some  eighty  years,  the  feeling  of  incredu- 
lity became  almost  absolute.  With  all  his  gentle  prop- 
erties, he  was  eminently  firm,  when  firmness  was 
required,  in  supporting  what  he  deemed  right  or  op- 
posing wrong.  With  all  his  habits  of  caution  and  for- 
bearance, promptness  in  thought  and  action  were  not 
wanting  when  promptness  became  the  occasion  or  him- 
self. The  occasion,  however,  seldom  found  his  mind 
unprepared,  and  his  promptness  was  probably  less  the 
effect  of  any  sudden  impulse  or  mere  suggestion  of 


150  BISHOP   WHITE. 

the  moment,  than  of  a  previously  matured  and  satis- 
factory course  of  comprehensive  thought,  which  fitted 
him  for  emergencies,  and  accounted  for  his  meeting 
and  overcoming  them  without  extraordinary  effort.  .  .  . 

"  His  step  became  less  firm ;  his  voice  less  distinct 
and  clear.    Although  his  eye  was  not,  for  useful  purposes, 
dimmed,  yet  many  years  had  overtaken  and  gone  by 
him    since   he   had  reached   and  triumphed  over  the 
allotted  term  of  ordinary  human  existence.     The  foot 
which  sustained  his  tall  form  no  longer  moved  with  a 
buoyant  and  elastic  tread.     It  was  too  plain  that,  like 
a  marble  statue,  however  well  proportioned,  to  which 
the    skilful   artist  gives  additional   support,   something 
was  needed  besides  due  proportion  and  native  strength 
to  preserve  continued   uprightness    and  steadiness  to 
the   body.     Nothing  was  more  natural    than  an  offer 
from    a    friend    of    a    relieving    and    supporting    arm. 
Whether  the  offer  was  regarded  as  implying  too  plainly 
a  want  of  confidence   in   his  own  stability,  which  he 
was  not  willing  to  admit,  or  the  acceptance  of  it  might 
be  thought  by  him  to    involve    some    trouble   to  an- 
other, it  was  generally  declined,  and  the  unsteady  gait 
and  amiable  disposition  were   no   farther   relieved  or 
disturbed. 

"  It  is  satisfactory  to  feel  that  the  noble  countenance 
and  fine  figure  of  Bishop  White  are  sufficiently  safe 
in  the  recollection  of  his  contemporaries,  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  generation  which  has  followed  him. 
By  an  arrangement  among  a  number  of  persons,  an 
excellent  picture  was  painted  by  Inman,  representing 
him  as  seated  in  the  chancel,  in  the  act  of  pronounc- 


REMINISCENCES.  1 5  i 

ing  a  discourse  previously  to  one  of  his  Episcopal 
offices.  The  portrait  was  sent  to  England  for  the  pur- 
pose of  procuring  the  best  possible  engraving.  This 
was  executed  by  one  of  the  most  distinguished  artists, 
in  his  happiest  manner.  The  plan  has  been  carried 
completely  into  effect  by  multiplying  copies  of  this 
engraving.  The  form  and  features,  once  so  cherished, 
are  kept  in  view  by  many  who  are  able  to  blend  their 
belief  in  pious,  moral,  and  intellectual  worth  of  a  past 
day,  with  features  and  expression  of  almost  speaking 
benevolence  and  intelligence ;  and  the  memorial  is 
held  with  pride  and  gratitude.  When  Pettrick,  the 
sculptor,  resided  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  anxious  to 
prepare  a  bust  of  Bishop  "White  without  giving  him 
any  trouble.  He  accordingly  placed  himself  in  front 
of  the  pulpit,  that  the  lineaments  and  countenance  of 
the  Bishop  might  be  seen  to  the  best  advantage ;  and 
while  the  venerable  object  of  study  was  delivering  his 
sermon  he  was  unconsciously  standing  for  his  likeness. 
The  attentive  artist,  meanwhile,  was  absorbed  in  his 
own  professional  contemplations,  quite  unmindful  prob- 
ably of  the  discourse ;  and  having  faithfully  fixed  his 
mind  on  the  features  presented  to  his  eye,  and  im- 
pressed them  firmly  in  his  recollection,  he  retired  to 
the  seclusion  of  his  studio,  and  prepared  his  model 
in  the  absence  of  the  original."  ^ 

The  late  Dr.  John  S.  Stone  delivered  a  memorial 
sermon  on  Bishop  White,  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Boston, 
shortly  after  his  death,  in  which  he  gives  an  incident 

1  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  vol.  v.  pp.  289-292. 


152  BISHOP    WHITE. 

that  was  characteristic  of  him  and  is  too  good  to  be 
lost.  He  says  :  "  He  had  it  in  his  power  to  take  those 
incipient  steps,  which,  followed  up  by  other  aspirants 
to  enlarged  authority,  would  have  led  to  the  ultimate 
establishment  amongst  us  of  a  temporal  headship  in  the 
Church.  But,  like  Washington,  it  was  his  peculiar 
merit  that  he  would  not  seize  upon  the  opportunity  with 
which  he  was  presented.  He  was  aware  of  our  danger ; 
and,  under  God,  has,  it  may  be  hoped,  enabled  us  per- 
manently to  shun  it.  *  Stop,'  said  he,  a  few  months 
before  his  death,  to  a  minister  who  was  addressing  an 
assembly  over  which  the  venerable  man  presided,  and 
who  was  indulging  the  too  frequent  habit  of  heaping 
upon  him  the  epithets  of  '  Patriarch '  and  '  Father  of 
the  Church,'  —  '■  stop  ;  don't  call  me  by  such  names  !  ' 
He  seemed  distinctly  aware  that  one  way  in  which 
power  may  alarmingly  and  dangerously  stretch  itself,  is 
that  of  first  permitting  the  names  of  authority  and  pre- 
rogative to  be  given  it ;  then,  receiving  apparently  free 
concessions  of  their  exercise ;  and  finally,  seizing  on 
their  full  energies  by  the  strong  hand  of  gradually 
acquired  influence.  The  undimmed  eye  of  his  fore- 
sight looked  into  the  future  of  our  destinies.  He 
discerned  our  peril ;  and,  acting  in  clear  view  and 
with  a  just  abhorrence  of  the  spirit  which  governs  the 
above  process,  he  steadily  and  to  the  very  last  put  away 
from  himself  even  the  names  of  the  ancient  despotism 
in  the  Church." 


THEOLOGIAN  AND  AUTHOR.  153 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THEOLOGIAN    AND    AUTHOR. 

Bishop  White,  though  not  a  professed  theologian, 
was  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  day.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  century  he  had  a  long  correspondence 
with  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley,  who  came  to  Philadelphia 
from  England  about  the  year  1795,  and  frequently  at- 
tended public  worship  at  Christ  Church.  Mutual  respect 
and  cordiality  of  feeling  existed  between  them,  and  they 
were  in  correspondence  for  several  years  after  Dr. 
Priestley  returned  to  England.  Bishop  White  was  a 
scholarly  man  from  his  earliest  years,  and  extended  his 
studies  to  many  and  special  departments  of  knowledge 
which  were  without  the  lines  of  his  profession.  The 
Bishop's  library,  which  was  all  contained  on  the  shelves 
occupying  two  walls  of  his  study,  numbered  about  two 
thousand  volumes.  This  study  was  a  large  room  in 
the  second  story  of  his  house,  and  directly  behind  the 
front  room  which  he  occupied  for  his  bed-chamber 
and  where  he  died.  It  was  warmed  by  an  open  fire- 
place, and  the  portraits  upon  the  walls  were  chiefly 
those  of  the  bishops  in  the  American  Church  who 
were  contemporary  with  himself.  His  favourite  place  for 
study  was  in  front  of  the  small  table  at  the  right  side 
of  the  fireplace ;   and  on  the  other  side  there  stood  an 


154  BISHOP   WHITE. 

upright  desk,  where  he  usually  wrote  his  sermons.  He 
used  for  this  purpose  little  books  of  his  own  manufac- 
ture, which  were  so  small  that  he  could  easily  hold 
them  in  one  hand  when  in  the  pulpit.  His  hand- 
writing was  large,  uniform,  and  extremely  legible,  and 
he  was  careful  in  the  arrangement  of  his  papers  and 
manuscripts,  and  left  nothing  at  loose  ends.  Every 
document  that  had  come  under  his  notice  was  described 
and  labelled  so  that  its  contents  were  indicated.  In- 
stances of  his  care  in  noting  upon  each  document  its 
proper  character,  are  furnished  in  the  following  copies 
of  notes  made  on  the  outside  covers  of  two  of  his  lit- 
tle manuscript  books.  One  of  them  contains  the  fol- 
lowing :  ''  Remarks  on  a  Pamphlet  published  by  ye 
rev'r  Benj  :  Allen,  being  an  Appendage  to  ye  Decision 
of  ye  Bps.  on  ye  Question  of  ye  Consecration  of  ye 
rev.  Henry  U.  Onderdonk.  If  this  Document  should 
survive,  I  wish  it  never  to  be  brought  forward  for  ye 
continuance  of  controversy,  but  only  to  contradict  mis- 
representation, if  made.  W.  W."  The  other  has  the 
following  note  on  the  outside  :  "1829.  Concerning 
ye  Question  relative  to  ye  Episcopacy  which  will  come 
before  ye  Gen'l :  Convention  conformably  to  ye  In- 
struction of  ye  Convention  of  the  State  of  Virginia  re- 
corded on  their  Journal,  page  17."  This  related  to 
the  election  of  William  Meade,  who  had  been  chosen 
Assistant  Bishop  of  Virginia,  without  the  right  of  suc- 
cession. He  was  equally  careful  in  regard  to  all  his 
own  publications.  In  one  of  these  little  books  is 
found  the  following  paragraph  :  ''  The  reason  of  my 
leaving  of  lists  of  my  printed  publications,  small  and 


THEOLOGIAN  AND   AUTHOR.  155 

generally  anonymous,  is,  that  in  ye  event  of  my  de- 
cease, I  may  guard  against  ye  imputing  to  me  of  any 
other.  However  unimportant  my  name,  and  however 
improbable  it's  being  so  misused,  ye  bare  possibility  of 
it  ought  to  be  my  justification.     Wm  :  White." 

Though  the  Bishop  had  ample  time  during  his  long 
life  in  which  to  prepare  works  of  importance,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  from  an  early  age  he  was  a  public 
man  and  had  incessant  demands  upon  his  leisure.  He 
was  the  president  of  nearly  every  public  institution  in 
Philadelphia  ;  and  at  his  death  the  number  of  these  in- 
stitutions and  societies  which  sent  in  obituary  reso- 
lutions, and  which  desired  a  place  in  his  funeral 
procession,  was  something  unprecedented  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  not  necessary  that  a  full  list  of  his  con- 
tributions should  be  here  published.  It  was  intended 
shortly  after  his  death  that  all  his  principal  works 
should  be  brought  out  in  a  collected  form,  but  this 
has  never  been  done.  The  only  one  which  has  sur- 
vived and  is  likely  to  abide  is  the  one  entitled  "  Me- 
moirs of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America."  This  was  published  first  in  1820, 
and  made  a  work  of  474  pages,  8vo.  It  is  of  priceless 
value  from  an  historical  point  of  view.  When  the 
second  edition  was  published  in  1S35,  the  iVrchbishop 
of  Canterbury  wrote  to  Dr.  Francis  L.  Hawks  :  "  I 
have  been  exceedingly  gratified  by  Bishop  White's  at- 
tention in  sending  me  the  second  edition  of  his  ^  Me- 
moirs of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America.'  The  work  is  more  than  ordinarily 
valuable  as  an  authentic  record  of  transactions  of  the 


156  BISHOP   WHITE. 

highest  importance  to  the  American  Church,  and  as  a 
lasting  memorial  of  the  truly  Christian  principles,  tem- 
per, and  conduct  of  the  venerable  persons,  American 
and  English,  by  whose  prudence  and  piety  the  pro- 
ceedings were  brought  to  a  happy  issue."  No  one 
had  a  more  complete  knowledge  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  this  country  down  to  the  year  1835  than 
Bishop  White,  and  his  "  Narrative  of  Events "  is 
brought  dov/n  to  that  year,  ending  with  a  sketch  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  General  Convention  of  1835. 
His  account  is  minute  and  authoritative,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved to  be  strictly  impartial.  There  is  nothing  like  it 
in  American  ecclesiastical  history,  and  by  it  Bishop 
White  will  transmit  the  records  of  his  public  career 
and  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church  to  remote 
generations. 

Another  work,  first  published  in  181 3  and  18 14  in  a 
magazine,  and  brought  out  afterwards  in  one  volume  in 
1833,  is  entitled  "A  Commentary  on  the  Questions  in 
the  Offices  for  the  Ordaining  of  Priests  and  Deacons ; 
and  a  Commentary  on  the  Duties  of  the  PubHc  Min- 
istry." This  is  a  companion  volume  to  Bishop  Wilber- 
force's  ''  Ordination  Addresses,"  and  is  still  used  in 
preparation  for  holy  orders.  In  1817  he  published  in 
two  large  volumes  "  Comparative  Views  of  the  Contro- 
versy between  the  Calvinists  and  the  Arminians."  This 
work  has  gone  by  with  the  theological  views  which  it 
maintained.  Bishop  White  was  an  Arminian  as  op- 
posed to  Calvinism.  His  most  important  work,  the 
one  on  which  he  believed  that  his  reputation  as  a 
divine    would    chiefly    rest,    is    entitled    '*A    Counter 


THEOLOGIAISr  AND  AUTHOR.  157 

Apology  for  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  a 
Review  of  the  Apology  of  Robert  Barclay  on  the  Same 
Subject."  It  was  begun  in  the  year  1805.  In  18 10 
it  was  resumed,  and  it  was  completed  during  that  and 
the  succeeding  year.  It  was  reperused  in  1826,  and 
was  further  revised  in  1833.  The  decline  of  the 
Quakers  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  made  the 
publication  of  this  work  unnecessary,  and  it  still  re- 
mains in  manuscript.  The  following  note  was  dated 
Oct.  18,  1833,  and  is  inserted  in  the  manuscript: 
'*  On  a  reperusal  of  the  '  Counter  Apology,'  I  see  no 
cause  to  withdraw  any  of  the  arguments  contained  in  it. 
Whether  it  will  ever  be  published  is  uncertain ;  but  I 
believe  that  it  would  tend  to  the  upholding  of  the  truths 
of  our  holy  religion  —  first,  by  showing  the  danger  of 
a  theory,  which,  by  affirming  an  imaginary  light  of  na- 
ture under  an  imposing  but  misapplied  name,  leads 
to  deism ;  and  secondly,  by  distinguishing  between 
Christian  duty  and  requisitions  foreign  to  it,  —  repre- 
senting them,  to  young  persons  especially,  as  equally 
obligatory,  and  thus  preparing  their  ripened  under- 
standings for  an  equal  disregard  of  both."  Many  of 
his  writings  were  contributed  to  the  religious  papers, 
especially  those  written  in  his  old  age.  His  five  ad- 
dresses to  the  trustees,  professors,  and  students  of  the 
General  Theological  Seminary  in  1823,  1824,  1827, 
1828,  and  1829,  were  all  published  in  pamphlets,  and 
are  full  of  excellent  advice  to  young  ministers.  He  de- 
livered also  five  Episcopal  Charges,  in  1807,  1825,  1831, 
1832,  and  1834,  all  of  which  were  published.  They 
took  up  points  of  discipline,  Episcopacy,  the  legislation 


158  BISHOP  WHITE. 

of  the  Church,  the  question  of  Christian  unity,  and  the 
subject  of  revivals.  His  first  Charge  was  delivered  in 
1807.  It  covered  the  divine  constitution  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  and  the  relation  of  the  clergy  to  the  Epis- 
copate. It  also  set  forth  the  order  and  perfections  of 
the  Church,  and  explained  his  position  with  reference 
to  "  The  Case  of  the  Episcopal  Churches  in  the  United 
States  Considered."  The  second  Charge,  delivered  in 
1825,  discussed  the  common  ministry.  The  reason 
why  he  had  for  eighteen  years  previous  delivered  no 
charges  was  because  he  had  had  so  many  chances  to 
speak  on  the  ministry  at  ordinations  that  he  did  not 
think  it  was  necessary.  The  Charge  of  1831  was  de- 
voted to  several  subjects,  —  revivals,  the  unity  of  the 
Church,  points  of  discipline,  the  Episcopacy,  and  ec- 
clesiastical legislation.  While  discussing  in  this  Charge 
the  subject  of  a  Bishop's  Church,  he  said:  ''What  to 
your  Bishop  seems  the  most  plausible  is  that  in  a  city 
or  town  of  a  diocese,  as  central  as  may  be,  there 
should  be  a  church,  so  far  differing  from  the  churches 
generally  as  that  the  Bishop  shall  be  its  more  imme- 
diate pastor,  and  that  to  enable  him  to  visit  his  diocese, 
a  third  part  of  it  every  year,  there  should  be  an  as- 
sistant presbyter  or  deacon."  He  was  always  careful 
to  sustain  the  dignity  and  the  rights  of  the  Episco- 
pate. The  Charge  of  1832  was  delivered  in  a  time 
of  religious  excitement,  and  explains  the  Church  sys- 
tem as  opposed  to  revivals.  It  is  valuable  as  a  state- 
ment of  his  principles  in  regard  to  spiritual  religion. 
He  laid  down  the  following  tests  of  a  revival :  *'  i .  The 
necessity  of  distinguishing  affections  due  to  the  Holy 


THEOLOGIAN  AND  AUTHOR.  159 

Spirit  from  emotions  coming  from  the  animal  economy. 
2.  The  zeal  should  be  divested  of  all  that  comes  under 
the  name  of  angry  passion.  3.  There  ought  to  be  uni- 
versal attendance  on  the  ordinances  of  religion.  4.  The 
truths  of  the  evangelical  dispensation  ought  to  be  the 
prominent  heads  of  instruction  and  edification.  5 .  The 
revival  ought  to  be  in  agreement  with  that  grace  of 
the  Christian  system  which  binds  together  believers  in 
ecclesiastical  union." 

These  principles  he  had  acted  on  for  half  a  century, 
and  he  puts  them  on  record,  under  responsibility,  as 
the  religious  convictions  of  his  life.  His  last  Charge, 
delivered  in  1834,  was  entitled  "The  Past  and  the  Fu- 
ture." He  was  sensible  that  a  man  in  his  eighty-sixth 
year  could  not  expect  to  address  his  people  again,  and 
he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  in  meeting  his  Convention  — 
the  fiftieth  Convention  of  his  diocese  —  to  pass  in  re- 
view the  events  connected  with  the  organization  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
Aaierica,  and  the  lessons  which  they  inculcate.  There 
is  nothing  here  which  is  not  to  be  found  set  forth  in 
detail  in  his  ''  Memoirs  of  the  Church,"  except  the 
large  comprehensive  counsels  which  the  venerable 
Bishop  felt  that  he  had  a  right  to  give  to  the  Church 
for  the  future.  While  nothing  need  be  quoted  from  it, 
it  must  be  said  that  it  has  no  charity  for  party  issues  in 
the  Church,  and  does  not  look  forward  to  any  innova- 
tions upon  what  has  been  inherited  from  the  Church 
of  England. 

He  wrote  the  Pastoral  Letters  of  the  House  of  Bish- 
ops from  1808  to  1835    inclusive,  ten  in  all,  and  left 


l6o  BISHOP    WHITE. 

the  following  note  concerning  them  :  "  As  these  letters, 
although  in  the  name  of  a  House,  were  known  to  have 
been  written  by  me,  and  currently  spoken  of  with  that 
circumstance  attached  to  them  ;  and  as,  on  that  ac- 
count, I  may  be  thought  especially  responsible  for  the 
sentiments  expressed,  —  I  have  thought  that  it  comes 
under  the  principle  of  these  entries  to  take  the  present 
notice  of  them.  The  notoriety  referred  to  does  not 
attach  to  the  various  addresses  penned  by  me  for  in- 
stitutions in  which  I  have  presided,  but  the  responsi- 
bility for  which  may  therefore  be  committed  to  the 
bodies  which  respectively  adopted  them."  They  are 
couched  in  guarded  and  conservative  language,  more 
religious  than  ecclesiastical  in  tone,  and  are  intended  to 
express  the  spiritual  consciousness  of  the  Church  at 
the  time  when  they  were  put  forth.  It  was  natural  that 
they  should  carry  great  weight  throughout  the  Amer- 
ican Church,  and,  as  the  words  of  the  Presiding  Bishop, 
they  expressed  his  comprehensive  interest  in  the  whole 
Episcopal  body  in  this  country.  Among  the  less  im- 
portant writings  of  Bishop  White  on  theological  and  ec- 
clesiastical subjects  there  is  a  remarkable  correspond- 
ence which  he  carried  on  with  Mr.  Charles  Miller,  a 
member  of  King's  Chapel,  Boston,  which  seceded  from 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  America  in  1783,  and  whose 
minister,  Mr.  James  Freeman,  finding  it  impossible  to 
obtain  ordination  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Seabury,  or, 
later,  from  Bishop  Provoost  or  Bishop  White,  was  finally 
ordained  by  the  senior  warden  of  the  parish.  The 
reason  of  the  defection  was  that  the  pews  of  the  Church- 
men who  had  gone  to  Nova  Scotia  during  the  Revolu- 


THEOLOGIAN  AXD   AUTHOR.  l6l 

tion  were  confiscated ;  and  the  persons  who  had  burial 
rights  in  the  vaults  of  the  Chapel,  who  were  not  in  all 
cases  accredited  parishioners,  were  forced  to  act  as 
parishioners  in  order  to  retain  their  rights  of  sepulture. 
This  circumstance  gave  the  majority  into  the  hands  of 
men  who  were  Socinians,  and  thus  the  Chapel  became 
the  first  Unitarian  place  of  worship  in  America,  full  forty 
years  before  the  Unitarians  separated  from  the  Con- 
gregational denomination.  Between  Mr.  Miller  and 
Bishop  White  an  extended  correspondence  was  main- 
tained in  1785  and  1786,  in  which  Dr.  White  did  not 
hesitate  to  set  forth  in  plain  terms  what  he  thought  of 
these  ecclesiastical  proceedings. 

Only  two  political  discourses  from  his  pen  have  been 
preserved  in  print,  though  a  third  still  exists  in  man- 
uscript. The  first  was  preached  in  Christ  Church,  Phil- 
adelphia, on  February  19th,  1795.  It  was  on  ''The 
Reciprocal  Influence  of  Civil  Polity  and  Religious 
Duty."  It  was  dedicated  to  President  Washington,  in 
whose  presence  it  had  been  delivered,  with  a  lengthy 
preface  in  praise  of  the  religious  character  of  his  ad- 
ministration. The  second,  unpublished,  was  preached 
on  the  9th  of  May,  1 798,  on  the  Fast  Day  recommended 
by  President  Washington.  It  was  "  A  Retrospective 
View  of  Our  Civil  Origin."  A  considerable  portion  of 
it  was  afterwards  inserted  in  the  Pastoral  Letter  of 
1826.  The  third  sermon  was  on  "  The  Duty  of  Civil 
Obedience  as  Required  by  Scripture."  This  was 
preached,  April  25th,  1799,  in  response  to  a  day  of 
humiliation  appointed  by  the  President.  It  was  first 
used  in  substance  on  November  5th,  known  before  the 

II 


1 62  BISHOP  WHITE. 

Revolution  as  "  Gunpowder  Day,"  and  was  afterwards 
preached  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  when  the  holiday  fell 
on  Sunday.  It  did  duty  for  the  third  time  in  1799. 
Bishop  White  was  a  Republican  before  the  Revolution, 
and  a  stanch  Federalist  after  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution. He  continued  to  stand  with  that  party  as 
long  as  he  lived. 

In  a  little  book  entitled  "  Bishop  White's  Opinions/* 
long  since  out  of  print,  one  obtains  in  a  nutshell  his 
theological  position.  He  is  here  represented,  in  a  com- 
pilation of  his  views  on  certain  theological  and  eccle- 
siastical points,  on  his  positive  and  strongest  side.  In 
this  connection  may  be  given  an  account  of  his  method 
in  the  examination  of  candidates  for  holy  orders.  The 
venerable  Dr.  E.  V.  Buchanan,  of  Philadelphia,  still 
living,  was  examined  for  deacon's  orders  in  his  study 
in  1832.  It  was  a  formidable  ordeal  for  a  young  man 
to  pass  through.  The  Bishop  sat  in  his  armchair,  a 
thin  and  tall  man,  cheerful,  courteous,  and  dignified, 
neatly  dressed,  wearing  black  silk  stockings,  with  silver 
buckles  in  his  shoes,  and  the  exact  image  of  a  gentle- 
man of  the  old  school.  Ten  clergymen  were  arranged 
in  two  rows  on  each  side  of  the  timid  young  man,  and 
were  all  at  liberty  to  ask  questions.  They  engaged  in  an 
animated  discussion  over  his  answers,  while  the  Bishop 
gave  him  texts  for  sermons,  and  required  of  him  a 
Latin  dissertation.  In  this  connection  a  letter,  ad- 
dressed to  him  at  this  time,  is  printed  literally,  and 
shows  how  the  Bishop  treated  his  candidates  for  holy 
orders. 


THEOLOGIAN  AND   AUTHOR.  163 

Philadelphia,  Mch.  5,  1832. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  have  received  your  letter  of  ye  2nd  in- 
stant ;  and  in  consequence  of  it,  send  to  you  ye  following 
texts  for  ye  four  sermons  required  by  ye  canon  :  Genesis 
xlix.  10;  Isaiah  ix.  6;  Matt.  xiii.  52  ;  Ephesians  iv.  i.  For 
ye  subject  of  ye  Latin  dissertation  required,  I  name  to  you 
31st  Article. 

Wishing  you  success  in  your  studies,  I  am 
Yours  affectionately, 

Wm:  White. 


1 64  BISHOP  WHITE. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


THE    LAST   YEARS. 


After  Dr.  Onderdonk  had  become  Assistant  Bishop 
he  undertook  the  outside  and  distant  work  of  the 
diocese,  leaving  to  Bishop  White,  who  was  now  an 
octogenarian,  the  work  of  his  pastorate  in  Christ 
Church  and  St.  Peter's  parishes,  and  such  duties  as 
were  laid  upon  him  as  the  Presiding  Bishop.  He  was 
beyond  the  period  when  he  was  good  for  much  in  the 
active  work  of  the  Church,  but  he  was  as  sagacious  in 
council,  as  wise  in  his  judgments,  and  as  active  in  in- 
tellect, as  he  had  been  in  earlier  life.  He  was  at  this 
time  the  full  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania.  Every  one  re- 
vered the  tall  and  venerable  man  who  walked  the 
streets  of  Philadelphia  with  slow  and  measured  step, 
and  he  was  beloved,  as  never  before,  in  his  office  of 
chief  pastor  and  in  his  character  as  a  citizen.  It  was 
remarked  after  his  death  that  he  was  one  of  the  three 
perfect  men  that  America  had  so  far  produced,  Wash- 
ington and  Marshall  being  the  other  two.  Everybody 
wished  to  have  his  blessing ;  little  children  paused  in 
the  street  for  his  kindly  greeting  and  to  pay  him  re- 
spect ;  and  his  weight  of  years  and  his  kindness  to  all 
made  him,  what  Bishop  Eraser  was  recently  called,  "  the 
Bishop  of  all   denominations."     That  he  enjoyed  this 


THE  LAST   YEARS.  165 

distinction  is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  it  rather  increased 
his  humility  than  ministered  to  his  pride.  In  the  coun- 
cils of  the  Church  he  had  the  same  pre-eminence.  He 
was  deferred  to  as  the  only  one  who  had  known  all 
things  from  the  beginning,  and  at  the  General  Conven- 
tion and  in  the  public  work  of  the  Church  he  was  the 
central  figure  and  the  most  influential  factor. 

In  earlier  years  he  had  trained  sons  in  the  ministry 
who  had  risen  to  do  him  honour,  such  men  as  John 
Henry  Hobart,  Jackson  Kemper,  William  Augustus 
Muhlenberg,  and  William  H.  De  Lancey,  the  last  one 
being  the  assistant  at  St.  Peter's,  and  already  known  as 
a  man  after  his  own  heart.  Bishop  Hobart  had  been, 
of  these  earlier  men,  the  one  who  stood  nearest  to  him. 
In  the  sermon  at  his  consecration,  which,  with  that  of 
Dr.  Griswold,  took  place  in  181 1,  he  thus  refers  to  the 
man  who  is  said  to  have  had  more  influence  over  the 
venerable  Bishop  than  any  one  else,  and  to  whom  he 
looked  forward  as  the  one  who  would  do  most  to  re- 
peat his  work  in  the  Church  and  enlarge  its  scope  : 

"  As  one  of  them  until  within  these  few  days  has  been 
known  only  by  a  respectable  and  unblemished  reputation, 
and  by  the  unanimity  there  have  been  committed  to  him 
the  concerns  of  the  Church  over  a  very  extensive  district, 
he  would  excuse  the  indulgence  of  personal  regards  ;  while 
there  is  expressed  peculiar  satisfaction  in  the  admission 
of  a  brother  known  in  his  infancy,  in  his  boyhood,  in  his 
youth,  and  in  his  past  labours  in  the  ministry,  to  him  to  be 
the  principal  agent  in  the  reception  of  him  to  the  Episco- 
pacy. There  are  not  likely  to  be  any  within  these  walls 
who  have  had  such  ample  opportunity  of  judging  of  the 
reverend  person  now  referred  to,  as  to  real  character  and 


1 66  BISHOP   WHITE. 

disposition.  And  his  ordainer  can  with  truth  declare  that 
he  shall  discharge  the  duty  on  which  he  is  soon  to  enter 
with  the  most  sanguine  prospects  as  to  the  issue.  This  is 
said  without  the  remotest  idea  of  a  comparison  with  any- 
other,  but  merely  on  account  of  a  longer  and  more  intimate 
acquaintance,  and  perhaps  what  is  now  announced  may 
not  be  altogether  without  a  reference  to  self,  although  — 
it  is  trusted  —not  operating  in  a  faulty  line.  For,  whether 
it  be  the  infirmity  of  an  advance  in  years,  or,  as  is  rather 
hoped,  an  interest  taken  in  the  future  prosperity  of  the 
Church,  there  is  cherished  a  satisfaction  in  the  recollection 
of  counsels  formerly  given  to  one  who  is  in  future  to  be  a 
colleague,  who  may,  in  the  common  course  of  affairs,  be 
expected  to  survive,  and  through  whom  there  may  accord- 
ingly be  hoped  to  be  some  small  measure  of  usefulness, 
when  he  who  gave  those  counsels  shall  be  no  more." 

The  time  was  at  hand  for  a  new  movement  in  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  this  country,  and  in  1832  he  con- 
secrated four  men  to  the  Episcopate  who  were  destined 
to  be  as  influential  in  their  day  in  shaping  the  Church 
in  the  future  as  Bishop  White  and  the  brilliant  young 
men  whom  he  had  instructed  and  inspired  had  been 
and  were  already  in  giving  breadth  of  thought  and  life 
to  the  Church  and  variety  to  its  ministrations.  It  has 
been  the  good  fortune  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States  to  have  had  some  of  its  greatest  men  in 
the  Episcopate,  and  when  George  Washington  Doane 
and  Charles  Pettit  Mcllvaine  and  Benjamin  Bosworth 
Smith  and  John  Henry  Hopkins  were  consecrated  as 
bishops  in  that  year  —  each  one  a  man  of  strength 
in  a  special  direction  —  the  Church  took  on  a  wider 
character  and  opened  to  a  greater  outlook  than  it  had 


THE  LAST   YEARS.  167 

before.  In  Hobart  and  Kemper  and  IMuhlenberg, 
Bishop  White  had  spoken  to  a  generation  that  had 
come  into  existence  since  he  had  reached  middle 
life ;  and  in  these  new  men,  none  of  whom  had  been 
directly  under  his  influence,  but  all  of  whom  had  been 
lifted  up  by  his  spirit,  he  found  those  who  were  repre- 
senting the  larger  life  upon  which  the  Episcopal  Church 
was  now  entering.  Bishop  Doane  was  to  illustrate  in 
New  Jersey  the  spirit  which  Bishop  Hobart  had  mani- 
fested in  New  York ;  Bishop  Mcllvaine  was  to  succeed 
the  eccentric  and  indefatigable  Bishop  Chase,  who  had 
resigned  his  work  in  Ohio  rather  than  be  subjected  to 
the  criticism  of  his  peers ;  Bishop  Smith  was  to  be  the 
pioneer  of  the  Church  in  what  was  then  almost  the 
wilderness  diocese  of  Kentucky ;  and  Dr.  Hopkins  was 
to  be  the  first  Bishop  of  Vermont,  and  manifest  his 
genius,  "cribbed,  cabined,  and  confined,"  among  its 
hillside  farms. 

It  was  a  time  of  great  stir  in  the  world  outside. 
Goethe  had  finished  his  work  and  had  just  died ; 
Coleridge  was  pouring  forth  his  mystical  philosophy  at 
Highgate,  and  Carlyle  and  Emerson  were  finding  in 
him  and  in  Wordsworth  the  prophets  of  the  new  day ; 
in  religion  the  Tractarian  Movement  had  just  begun  to 
engage  the  minds  of  the  Oxford  Church  leaders,  and 
Newman  had  written  the  first  of  the  "Tracts  for  the 
Times."  In  this  country  the  Unitarians  had  captured' 
Massachusetts  and  were  attempting  to  make  headway 
in  Connecticut,  where  the  milder  spirit  of  the  Episco- 
pal Church  had  absorbed  into  its  fold  the  men  and 
women  who,  in  the  Bay  State,  had  found  a  congenial 


1 68  BISHOP   WHITE. 

field  for  their  reaction  from  the  New  England  theology 
in  a  more  radical  religious  system.  Within  three  years 
from  the  consecration  of  these  men  the  Episcopal 
Church  was  to  declare,  in  the  Convention  of  1835, — 
the  one  at  which  Bishop  White  bade  farewell  to  his 
brethren,  —  that  the  whole  body  of  baptized  Christians 
was  the  missionary  army  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and 
to  organize  itself  for  aggressive  work  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  as  a  committee  of  the  whole.  It  was  a  time 
when  men's  hearts  were  large  because  their  thoughts 
were  high  and  noble,  and  it  was  a  fitting  season  for 
this  Patriarch  of  the  American  Church  to 

**  Fold  his  tent,  like  the  Arabs, 
And  as  silently  steal  away." 

Bishop  White  had  but  recently  entered  upon  his  eighty- 
ninth  year.  In  spite  of  his  great  age,  he  still  insisted 
on  preaching  every  Sunday  in  one  of  the  churches  of 
which  he  was  the  rector.  His  last  sermon  was  preached 
on  June  26th,  and  is  entered  in  his  record  of  sermons 
for  the  Sunday  as  follows  :  "  Of  ye  Sword  of  ye  Gospel, 
Heb.  iv.  12."  In  the  same  book  the  dates  of  the  next 
to  his  last  sermons  are  May  2 2d  and  29th,  June  5th 
and  1 2  th;  and  previous  to  this  date  the  record  shows 
that,  with  the  exception  of  four  or  five  Sundays,  he  had 
preached  regularly  from  the  beginning  of  the  year.  The 
last  official  act  which  he  performed  was  on  the  Fourth 
of  July,  when  he  affixed  his  signature  to  the  document 
authorizing  the  consecration  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  A. 
McCoskry  to  the  office  of  Bishop  of  Michigan.  This 
was  the  only  consecration  to  the  Episcopate  in  which 
he  did  not  have  a  part  during  his  long  career. 


THE  LAST   YEARS.  169 

The  details  of  his  last  illness  were  written  out  at  length 
by  one  who  was  constantly  with  him,  and  were  after- 
wards published  in  the  paper  called  *'  The  Missionary." 
They  furnish  the  only  existing  account  of  his  last  days. 
The  writer,  after  alluding  to  the  fact  that  little  more 
than  three  months  before  he  had  entered  upon  his 
eighty-ninth  year,  says  :  — 

"  Though  since  then  he  had  been  visited  with  a  severe 
attack  of  sickness,  which  at  the  time  caused  great  anxiety, 
he  had  so  far  recovered  as  to  appear  at  the  meeting  of 
the  bishops,  on  the  21st  day  of  June,  with  even  more  than 
his  wonted  strength  of  body  and  clearness  and  activity  of 
mind.  He  continued  thus  in  the  discharge  of  his  accus- 
tomed duties  with  his  accustomed  industry  and  assiduity, 
—  contributing  to  the  last,  or  July  number,  of  the  '  Protes- 
tant Episcopalian,'  a  most  remarkable  article  on  the  wan- 
derings of  the  mind  in  prayer ;  keeping  up  the  current  of 
his  extensive  correspondence ;  preaching  in  St.  Peter's 
Church  on  Sunday,  June  26th,  the  last  time,  '  the  word  of 
God  is  quick  and  powerful  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged 
sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and 
spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of 
the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart;'  and  on  Saturday, 
July  2d,  attending  a  funeral,  and  visiting,  in  a  distant  part  of 
the  city,  a  member  of  his  congregation.  In  the  evening  of 
that  day,  however,  he  was  evidently  feeble,  and  retired  to 
rest  without  disease,  but  much  exhausted.  It  was  the  last 
time  that  he  ascended  the  familiar  stairs.  A  fall,  on  rising: 
in  the  course  of  the  nio^ht.  alarmed  his  watchful  and  de- 
voted son,  who  found  him  prostrate  on  the  floor;  and  from 
that  time,  though  without  other  injury  from  the  fall  (which 
was  the  effect,  it  is  supposed,  of  weakness  merely)  than 
external  ])ruises,  he  gradually  sunk,  from  the  slow  failure, 
one    by  one,  of    all    the    springs    of   life,  —  without   pain, 


lyo  BISHOP   WHITE. 

without  severity  of  suffering,  without  a  murmur  or  a  groan, 
—  until  the  fifteenth  day  of  his  confinement,  when,  sweetly 
as  an  infant  drops  away  upon  its  mother's  breast,  he  slept 
in  Jesus. 

"  It  was  on  Tuesday,  July  12th,  that  the  administration 
of  the  Communion  of  the  Sick  was  proposed  to  him  ;  to 
which  he  gave,  with  great  emphasis  of  manner,  the  most 
cordial  assent,  spontaneously  observing  that  it  was  an 
ordinance  significant  of  all  that  was  most  essential  in 
Christianity,  and  expressing  the  devout  hope  that  he  might 
have  grace  to  receive  it  with  resignation  and  to  his  spiritual 
profit.  It  was  accordingly  administered  by  the  Assistant 
Bishop,  there  being  present  with  him  all  members  of  the 
family,  another  Bishop,  and  the  assistant  minister  of  St. 
Peter's  Church.  It  was  astonishing,  in  his  great  weak- 
ness of  body,  to  see  with  what  strength  and  fervour  he  en- 
gaged in  the  solemn  service,  and  how  perfectly  his  attention 
and  interest  were  sustained  throughout.  His  manner  was 
that  of  deep  and  seraphic  devotion,  —  following  evidently 
through  all  the  prayers,  uniting  distinctly  in  every  sentence 
that  was  responsive,  and  most  especially  in  the  Confession 
and  in  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis,  sealing  every  portion  of  the 
service  with  an  emphatic  '  Amen  ' ;  and  when  the  consecrated 
elements  were  delivered  to  him,  insisting  earnestly,  until 
over-persuaded  b}'  those  about  him,  that  he  could  rise  from 
the  bed,  which  for  several  days  he  had  not  left,  to  receive 
them,  as  he  was  used  to  do,  on  his  knees. 

"  From  the  commencement  of  the  Bishop's  illness, 
though  every  office  was  performed  with  the  utmost  skill 
and  assiduity  and  tenderness  by  the  members  of  his  family, 
it  had  been  conceded  to  the  affectionate  interest  of  the 
clergy  that  there  should  be  some  of  them  in  the  house 
every  night.  On  Tuesday  night  that  pleasure  —  and 
greater  pleasure  there  could  scarcely  be — was  shared  by 
the  Bishop  of  New  Jersey,  with  his  brother  of  Michigan. 


THE   LAST   YEARS.  ij i 

Though  it  could  not  reasonably  be  doubted  that  the  vener- 
able patient  was  acquainted  with  his  true  condition  and  its 
unquestionable  result,  it  was  deemed  kind  and  just  —  with 
that  respectful  tenderness  which  was  not  more  strongly 
dictated  by  the  relation  of  the  parties  than  by  the  impulses 
of  filial  feeling  —  to  seek  assurance  that  it  was  so,  and  to 
afford  the  opportunity  for  any  communication  which  he 
might  desire  to  make,  and  which,  ere  long,  increasing 
weakness  might  preclude.  Accordingly,  at  a  favourable  op- 
portunity during  the  night,  it  was  said  to  him :  '  I  hope, 
sir,  that  you  feel  no  inconvenience  from  the  effort  you 
made  in  receiving  the  Holy  Communion  this  afternoon.' 
'  Not  the  least,'  he  replied,  *  not  the  least;  but  much  com- 
forted.' '  It  was  a  great  pleasure,  sir,  to  be  permitted  once 
more  to  receive  that  blessed  sacrament  which  we  have  so 
often  partaken  with  you.'  *  And  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to 
have  you.'  '  We  feel,  sir,  that  you  are  very  sick,  very  sick, 
indeed.'  *  I  can  say  nothing  to  the  contrary  of  that.' 
*  We  thought,  sir,  that  you  might  have  something  that  you 
would  wish  to  communicate,  some  message  for  the  Church, 
to  which  God  has  spared  you  so  long.  We  should  be  glad 
to  receive  any  word  of  counsel  from  you,  and  to  bear  it  to 
our  brethren.'  *  I  can  only  say  that  I  pray  God's  protec- 
tion and  blessing  that  it  may  continue  to  have  peace  and 
prosperity  after  my  decease.'  '  We  trust,  sir,  that  you  rely 
with  entire  confidence  on  the  promises  of  that  blessed 
Gospel  which  you  have  preached  so  many  years  —  '  '  And,' 
he  interrupted,  'which  has  hitherto  sustained  me.'  'And 
you  submit  yourself,  sir,  wholly  to  God's  gracious  good- 
ness, with  a  single  and  entire  reliance  for  salvation  on  the 
merits  of  his  Son,  through  faith  in  him?'  'Oh,  entirely, 
entirely  ;  I  have  no  other  wish,  no  other  hope  ! '  After  a 
pause,  the  effort  of  speaking  being  very  great,  though  he 
did  not  allow  that  he  was  fatigued  by  it,  and  was  evidently 
consoled  and  animated  by  the  conversation,  '  I  should  be 


172  BISHOP   WHITE. 

glad,'  he  said,  '  to  express  my  feelings  to  you  in  some  of  the 
Psalms  and  Hymns,  but  I  cannot.'  '  Perhaps  you  would 
like  to  hear  some  of  them  read.'  '  I  should.'  '  Will  you 
select  one,  sir  ?  '  '  No  ;  I  leave  it  to  you.'  '  But  you  have 
some  favourite,  sir,  which  you  would  prefer.'  The  209th 
hymn  was  then  named  by  him :  — 

'  Thou  art  the  way  —  to  Thee  alone 
From  sin  and  death  we  flee  ; 
And  he  who  would  the  Father  seek, 
Must  seek  him,  Lord,  by  Thee,' — 

which  was  accordingly  read.  Having  signified  his  entire 
assent  and  approbation  of  it,  he  said :  '  That  beautiful 
hymn  of  Addison's  has  been  a  favourite  with  me  all  my  life.' 
He  was  asked  if  he  meant  that  which  begins,  — 

'  When  all  Thy  mercies,  O  my  God, 
My  rising  soul  surveys,'  — 

and  signifying  that  it  was,  the  whole  of  it  was  read.  He 
followed  it  throughout  with  the  motion  of  his  hps;  and 
when  it  was  done,  in  reply  to  the  remark,  '  How  comfort- 
able it  must  be  to  you,  sir,  to  realize  thus  the  protecting 
care  of  God  in  life,  in  death,  and  beyond  the  grave,'  he 
said,  with  a  warmth  of  expression  not  usual  with  him: 
'  Oh,  it  is  charming,  it  is  charming  ! '  The  fear  that  his 
feeble  strength  might  be  overdrawn  here  interrupted  this 
delightful  conversation,  which  he  was  evidently  willing  to 
continue.  There  was  no  subsequent  opportunity  afforded  ; 
but  it  suffices  abundantly  to  show  that  as  he  lived  so  he 
died,  in  calm  and  meek  reliance  on  his  Saviour.  Early 
the  next  morning  he  was  asked  if  he  remembered  Bishop 
Ken's  beautiful  Morning  Hymn,  and  at  his  request  a  part 
of  it  was  read  to  him,  and  prayers  were  said  at  his  bedside; 
in  which,  though  very  weak,  he  heartily  united. 

"  He  continued  gradually  failing,  his  nights  restless  and 
his  days  wearisome,  saying  scarcely  anything,  yet  recogniz- 


THE  LAST   YEARS.  173 

ing  all  his  friends,  and  replying  always  to  their  inquiry  that 
he  did  not  suffer,  until  Saturday,  the  i6th,  when  it  became 
apparent  that  a  great  change  had  taken  place,  and  that 
*  the  solemn  crisis  of  departing  life,'  to  use  his  own  most 
beautiful  expression  in  the  recent  Pastoral  Letter  of  the 
House  of  Bishops,  was  near  at  hand.  About  two  o'clock 
of  that  day,  when  he  seemed  at  the  lowest  point  of  phy- 
sical exhaustion,  and  his  weeping  family  expected  his  im- 
mediate dissolution,  on  the  approach  of  the  present  writer 
to  his  bedside,  mindful  to  the  last  of  the  courtesy  which 
graced  his  life,  he  addressed  him  with  the  accustomed  in- 
quiry, by  name,  shortly  after  which  he  asked  that  prayers 
might  be  offered.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  order  for 
the  Visitation  of  the  Sick,  was  immediately  used,  with 
eminent  propriety  and  feeling,  by  the  assistant  minister  of 
St  Peter's  Church,  humbly  commending  '  the  soul  of  this 
thy  servant,  our  dear  father,  into  thy  hands,  as  into  the 
hands  of  a  faithful  Creator  and  merciful  Saviour.'  Al- 
though, after  this  service,  the  saintly  sufferer  revived  a 
little,  and  continued,  until  within  an  hour  or  two  of  his 
decease,  to  recognize  his  brethren  and  friends  who  came 
about  him,  there  was  no  distinctive  act  subsequent  to  this. 
His  last  request,  as  became  a  Christian  believer,  was  for 
prayer  to  God.  His  last  act,  as  became  a  Christian  Bishop, 
was  the  commendation  of  his  soul  to  God  in  the  office  of 
his  Church. 

"  In  the  time  and  circumstances  of  his  death,  as  in  the 
course  of  his  long  life,  there  was  a  beautiful  propriety. 
His  alarming  illness  was  extensively  known.  All  the 
periodicals  of  the  Church,  and  many  of  the  secular  news- 
papers, had  expressed  concern  for  its  issue.  The  result 
was,  as  in  the  case  of  another  apostle  in  a  condition  of 
imminent  peril,  '  prayer  was  made  without  ceasing  of  the 
Church  unto  God  for  him.'  Especially  was  this  the  case 
on  the  second  Lord's  Day  after  his  sickness  commenced, 
the  seventh   Sunday  after   Trinity,  and  the  17th  day   of 


174  BISHOP   WHITE. 

July;  on  which  day  the  various  Episcopal  congregations 
in  several  of  the  dioceses,  '  were  uniting  their  voices  on  be- 
half of  the  venerable  Patriarch  in  the  beautiful  supplica- 
tion of  their  ritual,  for  a  sick  person,'  Upon  this  sacred 
day,  whose  solemn  services  for  nearly  seventy  years  had 
seldom  failed  to  engage  his  voice  in  the  several  offices  of 
the  Christian  ministry,  as  the  hour  of  noon  approached, 
when  the  prayers  of  faithful  thousands  had  but  just  gone 
up  to  heaven  in  intercession  for  him,  the  day  itself  — 

'  So  calm,  so  cool,  so  bright, 
The  bridal  of  the  earth  and  sky,' 

in  the  house  which  for  half  a  century  had  been  his  home, 
in  his  own  chamber,  upon  his  own  bed,  with  all  his  loved 
ones  of  the  first  and  second  generation  gathered  round  him, 
so  quietly  that  not  a  murmur  caught  the  quickened  sense 
of  love's  most  practised  ear,  so  gently  that  the  most  at- 
tentive eye  marked  not  the  moment  of  its  transit,  his  peace- 
ful spirit  took  its  flight  from  earth,  —  washed,  as  we  humbly 
trust,  from  all  defilements,  '  in  the  blood  of  that  immaculate 
Lamb,  which  was  slain  to  take  away  the  sins  of  the  world,' 
—  to  be  'presented  pure  and  without  spot'  before  God. 
Beautiful  instance  of  the  only  true,  the  Christian  euthan- 
asia !  Beautiful  termination  of  a  life,  which  faith  and 
holiness  and  charity  had  made  instinct  and  radiant  with 
beauty!  Beautiful  illustration  of  the  power  of  our  reli- 
gion to  adorn  and  bless  the  longest  life,  to  console,  to 
strengthen,  to  make  conqueror  in  death  !  Beautiful  copy 
of  a  perfect  Exemplar  —  may  we  follow  thee  as  thou  hast 
followed  Christ,  live  near  to  him  as  thou  hast  Hved  in  the 
meek  piety  of  thy  life,  go  to  him  as  thou  hast  gone  in 
the  calm  confidence  of  thy  triumphant  death  !  " 

It  had  long  been  the  express  desire  of  the  aged 
Bishop  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  depart  this  life 
on  the  Lord's  Day,  and  his  wish  was  granted.  He 
passed  away  at  a  quarter  before  twelve  o'clock,  and  the 


THE  LAST  YEARS.  i75 

fact  of  his  decease  was  announced  in  the  city  churches 
in  the  afternoon,  immediately  after  the  evening  service 
preceding  the  sermon,  accompanied  by  a  request  that 
the  sermon  should  be  omitted,  in  compliance  with  an  ar- 
rangement which  had  been  made  by  some  of  the  clergy 
attending  upon  the  Bishop.  This  request  was  generally 
regarded,  and  a  short  address  suited  to  the  occasion 
was  made  instead  of  the  usual  sermon,  and  the  congre- 
gations were  dismissed  with  the  Apostolic  benediction. 
His  funeral  took  place  on  Wednesday  morning  at 
ten  o'clock.  It  was  a  funeral  service  only  surpassed 
by  that  of  Franklin  half  a  century  earlier.  At  an  early 
hour  the  street  in  which  he  resided  was  thronged  with 
crowds  eager  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  features  of  one 
whom  everybody  esteemed,  and  at  the  hour  appointed 
for  the  service  it  was  with  difficulty  that  his  house  could 
be  approached  by  those  who  were  invited  to  meet  at 
the  Bishop's  and  the  adjacent  houses.  At  a  few 
moments  past  eleven  o'clock,  the  procession  began  to 
be  formed  in  the  following  order  :  — 

Sextons. 
Officiating  Clergy: 
Rev.  George  Sheets, 
Rev.  W.  H.  De  Lancey, 
Rev.  John  W.  James. 

Bishop  of  the  Diocese: 
Rt.  Rev.  Henry  W.  Onderdonk 


Rev.  Levi  Bull, 

Rt.  Rev.   Bishop  McCos- 

kry, 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Doane, 

Pall-bearers,  J 


7i 


'Rev.  Dr.  Abercrombie, 
Rt.  Rev.  Jackson  Kemper, 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Bowen, 
Pall-bearers. 


176  BISHOP   WHITE. 

Family. 

Physician  to  the  Family. 

Clergy  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  as  Mourners. 

Wardens  of  Christ  Church,  St.  Peter's,  and  St.  James's, 

as  Mourners. 

Vestrymen  of  the  same,  as  Mourners, 

Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania, 

as  Mourners. 

The  Clergy  of  various  denominations. 

Wardens  and  Vestrymen  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 

Churches. 
Candidates  for  Holy  Orders. 
Trustees  and  Faculties  of  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
Judges  of  the  United  States  and  State  Courts. 
American  Philosophical  Society. 
Mayor,  Recorder,  and  Aldermen. 
Select  and  Common  Councils. 
Protestant  Episcopal  Academy. 
Society  for  the  Advancement  of  Christianity  in  Penn- 
sylvania. 
Protestant  Episcopal  Diocesan  Sunday  School  Society. 
Bishop  White  Prayer  Book  Society. 
Philadelphia  Bible  Society. 
Prison  Discipline  Society. 
Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb. 
Institution  for  the  Bhnd. 
Philadelphia  Dispensary. 
Other  Institutions  with  which  the  Bishop  was  connected. 

Episcopahans. 
Citizens. 

Every  Christian  denomination  was  represented  in  the 
cortege,  and  the  procession  of  persons  in  it,  which  ex- 
tended about  two  thousand  feet,  exclusive  of  the  numer- 
ous carriages  in  attendance,  formed  but  a  small  part 
of  the  immense  concourse  of  persons,  who  were  col- 


THE   LAST   YEARS.  177 

lected  to  the  number  of  upwards  of  twenty  thousand  to 
participate  in  the  mournful  service.  Among  the  Bishops 
present  were  Dr.  Bowen  of  South  CaroHna,  Dr.  Onder- 
donk  of  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  Kemper,  Missionary  Bishop 
of  Missouri  and  Indiana,  and  Dr.  McCoskry,  the  newly 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Michigan.  The  pall-bearers 
were  Bishops  Bowen,  Doane,  Kemper,  and  McCos- 
kry, assisted  by  the  two  oldest  presbyters  present, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Abercrombie  and  the  Rev.  Levi  Bull. 
All  the  Episcopal  clergy  were  robed  in  their  sur- 
plices and  attended  as  mourners.  A  large  number  of 
the  city  clergy  wore,  in  addition  to  their  robes,  a  black 
scarf  as  a  badge  of  mourning.  Besides  the  Episco- 
pal clergy,  there  were  present  many  ministers  of  other 
Christian  bodies.  Nearly  the  whole  of  Christ  Church 
was  undergoing  extensive  repairs  at  the  time  of  the 
Bishop's  death.  He  had  begged  the  vestry  to  defer 
them  until  he  should  pass  away ;  and  it  was  in  the 
midst  of  these  repairs  that  the  building  was  required 
for  his  funeral  service.  When  the  procession  arrived 
at  Christ  Church,  the  street  was  so  crowded  with  peo- 
ple that  it  was  impossible  to  advance  until  orders  had 
been  given  to  make  room  for  it.  The  body  of  the 
venerable  man  was  at  length  brought  in  and  placed  in 
the  middle  aisle,  before  the  chancel.  It  was  covered 
with  a  black  pall,  thrown  over  a  white  linen  covering. 
As  the  bearers  proceeded  up  the  aisle,  the  burial 
anthem  was  read  alternately  by  the  minister  officiating 
and  by  the  people.  The  Rev.  Mr.  De  Lancey  had 
charge  of  the  services  in  the  Church  and  at  the  grave. 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  Bishop  Onderdonk,  who 

12 


178  BISHOP   WHITE. 

now  entered  upon  the  full  duties  of  the  Episcopate. 
After  the  discourse  was  over,  the  company  proceeded 
to  the  family  vault  in  the  churchyard,  where  the  re- 
mains of  the  Bishop's  wife  had  been  placed  over  fifty 
years  earlier,  and  where  he  had  desired  that  his  own 
body  might  be  placed.  A  solemn  hush  and  awe  per- 
vaded those  who  were  present.  It  was  as  if  the  silence 
of  the  grave  had  settled  upon  the  lips  of  the  by-stand- 
ers,  and  the  only  sounds,  after  the  service  at  the  grave 
was  ended,  were  the  stifled  sobbings  of  those  who  could 
not  restrain  their  grief. 

Business  was  generally  suspended  in  Philadelphia 
during  the  funeral,  and  the  New  York  firemen,  then  in 
the  city,  would  have  participated  in  the  procession  if 
they  had  not  asked  this  privilege  at  too  late  an  hour. 
It  was  an  occasion  that  profoundly  moved  the  people 
of  Philadelphia  and  of  the  surrounding  country.  Since 
the  death  of  Washington  the  bells  of  Christ  Church 
had  not  tolled  a  more  melancholy  peal  than  that  which 
reached  the  ears  of  the  citizens  on  the  Sunday  that 
Bishop  White  passed  away.  He  seemed  to  be  an 
essential  part  of  the  population.  The  offlce  and  the 
man  were  inextricably  blended,  and  the  man  was  every- 
where beloved.  The  universal  feeling,  as  expressed 
at  the  time,  was :  "  That  reverend  figure,  that  gray 
head,  so  familiar,  so  honoured,  will  never  be  seen  in  the 
streets  of  Philadelphia  again."  He  was  the  last  con- 
necting link  between  the  people  of  that  day  and  the 
great  men  of  the  Revolution.  The  words  uttered  by 
Bishop  White  at  the  consecration  of  Dr.  Onderdonk  in 
this  ancient  edifice,  recounting  his  own  earlier  mem- 


THE  LAST  YEARS.  179 

ories  of  the  place  in  connection  with  the  work  of  his 
life,  bring  to  a  fitting  close  the  story  of  his  last  years. 
Quaintly  and  modestly  he  says  of  himself:  — 

"  He  feels  the  full  weight  of  an  occasion,  reminding  him 
of  his  near  approach  to  the  end  of  the  ministry  in  which 
he  has  been  so  long  a  labourer :  and  when,  during  the 
transaction  in  which  we  have  been  engaged,  he  occasion- 
ally permitted  his  eye  to  rest  on  the  spot,  within  the  dis- 
tance of  a  few  feet,  where,  in  the  days  of  his  boyhood,  he 
joined  in  religious  services  within  these  walls;  when  from 
that  spot  his  attention  was  transferred  to  the  pulpit  at  his 
elbow,  from  which,  although  not  unfavoured  by  domestic 
instruction  and  encouragement,  there  sunk  into  his  youth- 
ful mind  the  truths  of  the  ever-blessed  gospel,  and  from 
which  for  the  space  of  fifty-five  years  he  has  been  pro- 
claiming the  same  truths,  with  what  effect  will  not  be 
known  until  the  day  which  shall  '  try  every  man's  work  of 
what  sort  it  is,'  but  certainly  with  effect  far  short  of  his 
wishes  and  of  his  prayers,  —  there  results  from  these  rec- 
ollections and  from  others  a  most  weighty  sense  of  the 
responsibility  on  which  he  has  been  so  long  acting;  and  of 
his  need  of  the  mercy  of  God,  through  the  merits  of  the 
Redeemer,  for  many  failures  and  imperfections,  and  for  a 
falling  short  of  his  labours,  however  sincere  in  their  prin- 
ciple, of  what  might  have  been  accomphshed  by  a  more 
diligent  improvement  of  the  opportunities  with  which  a 
beneficent  Providence  had  furnished  him." 


i8o  BISHOP    WHITE. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

A    HALF    CENTURY    OF    CHURCH    LIFE. 

The  personal  career  of  Bishop  White  was  unique 
among  Americans.  Younger  in  years  than  most  of  the 
men  with  whom  he  was  associated,  he  was  from  the 
first  their  peer  in  range  of  outlook,  in  ability  to  see 
what  ought  to  be  done,  and  in  ripe  and  comprehen- 
sive judgment.  He  had  the  statesman's  gift  of  work- 
ing wisely  when  he  had  a  great  end  in  view.  No  other 
man  appeared  among  Churchmen  in  the  American 
colonies  who  had  the  same  ability  at  a  great  crisis  to 
decide  promptly  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  When 
he  was  hardly  thirty-five  years  of  age,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Dr.  Seabury,  he  was  the  most  conspicuous  cler- 
gyman, the  one  to  whom  all  eyes  instinctively  turned 
in  the  American  colonies.  He  had  made  the  impres- 
sion of  a  man  who  had  the  qualities  and  gifts  of  leader- 
ship, though  he  had  not  been  called  upon  to  show 
forth  all  that  he  could  do.  His  wealth,  his  social 
position,  his  thorough  education,  and  a  certain  matu- 
rity of  mind  and  thought  which  impressed  all  who  came 
in  contact  with  him,  contributed  to  his  eminence. 
Though  the  junior  of  Washington  in  years,  he  was  not 
only  his  pastor  but  his  equal  in  social  rank  and  dis- 
tinction.    In  any  community  Bishop  White  would  have 


A   HALF  CENTURY  OF  CHURCH  LIFF.       i8l 

been  a  man  of  note,  and  in  the  political  and  religious 
crisis  which  was  brought  to  a  head  in  the  American 
Revolution  he  had  the  qualities  of  courage  and  fore- 
sight which  made  him  a  man  of  mark. 

He  was  born  to  enjoy  the  confidence  of  his  fellow- 
men,  and  exercise  leadership  over  them.  He  did  this 
not  by  assuming  to  lead,  but  by  the  superiority  of  his 
gifts,  which  impressed  all  who  came  in  contact  with 
him.  He  gained  the  confidence  of  others  by  their 
conviction  of  his  largeness  of  mind  and  heart.  He 
lived  in  many  respects  a  double  life.  In  one  character 
he  fulfilled  his  round  of  duty  as  the  Bishop  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  rector  of  the  united  churches  in  Phil- 
adelphia, and  in  these  positions  he  felt  most  at  home. 
In  the  other  character  he  stood  forth  as  the  patriarch 
of  the  American  Church,  the  one  man  who  had  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  Anglican  Church  in  the  United 
States  from  the  beginning,  and  to  whom  all  momentous 
questions  in  ecclesiastical  affairs  were  constantly  re- 
ferred as  they  arose.  He  took  the  initiative  in  the  or- 
ganization of  the  American  Church.  Undoubtedly  this 
was  in  part  forced  upon  him  by  his  official  position 
in  Philadelphia,  but  he  could  never  have  obtained 
the  immediate  recognition  he  did  among  all  the  scat- 
tered parishes  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  if  he  had 
not  impressed  himself  upon  the  minds  of  others  as 
one  in  whom  they  could  place  trust  as  a  wise  and 
prudent  leader  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  No  other  man, 
except  Bishop  Seabury,  attained  anything  like  the  same 
eminence  or  the  respect  which  was  conceded  to  him ; 
and  many  as  were  sharers  in  the  re-organization  of  the 


1 82  BISHOP   WHITE. 

Church  upon  an  American  basis,  he  was  the  one  man 
whose  opinion  carried  most  weight  in  the  decision  of 
what  ought  to  be  done. 

Several  things  are  to  be  noted  in  his  attitude  at  the 
crisis  of  Episcopacy  in  the  new  world.  He  looked  over 
the  field  and  saw  the  Church  as  a  whole,  —  its  needs, 
its  possibilities,  its  distinctly  American  position.  He 
was  not  so  intent  upon  what  he  held  to  be  the  truth 
that  he  could  not  waive  an  interest  temporarily  in 
order  to  gain  a  larger  end.  His  action  at  a  critical 
moment  in  the  history  of  the  country  was  as  magnani- 
mous as  it  was  courageous  and  comprehensive.  When 
it  seemed  as  if  in  the  height  of  the  conflict  no  settle- 
ment would  be  reached  between  the  contending 
parties,  he  embodied  in  a  pamphlet,  which  has  the 
first  historical  value  in  being  a  witness  to  his  Catholic 
spirit  and  largeness  of  mind,  —  "  The  Case  of  the  Epis- 
copal Churches  in  the  United  States  Considered,"  —  the 
plan  of  a  possible  organization  which  could  be  ac- 
cepted as  provisional  until  the  full  Apostolic  Succes- 
sion could  be  obtained.  Happily,  in  the  cessation  of 
hostilities  between  this  country  and  Great  Britain  al- 
most at  the  moment  when  it  was  first  put  into  circula- 
tion, the  reason  for  the  views  which  he  tentatively 
advocated  was  superseded  by  the  possibility  that  the 
Succession  could  be  obtained  in  time  from  the  English 
Church ;  but  this  does  not  diminish  the  courage  and 
foresight  of  this  young  clergyman  in  devising  measures 
by  which  the  Church  in  the  American  colonies  could 
be  held  together,  and  its  services  maintained,  until  there 
should  be  a  favourable  change  in  public  affairs. 


A   HALF  CENTURY  OF  CHURCH  LIFE.       183 

The  man  who  wrote  this  pamphlet  had  a  free 
mind.  He  was  not  bound  to  precedent,  and  the  fact 
that  in  it  much  which  is  embodied  in  the  consti- 
tution and  government  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
this  country  to-day  was  now  outlined  for  the  first  time, 
shows  how  distinctly  he  had  thought  for  himself  in 
ecclesiastical  matters.  It  is  not  simply  his  use  of 
Hooker's  argument  for  a  departure  from  the  Episco- 
pal system  under  the  "exigence  of  necessity"  which 
attracts  attention  to  this  pamphlet,  but  the  large- 
ness of  his  views  of  the  way  in  which  ecclesiastical 
government  could  be  accommodated  to  the  life  of 
the  people.  He  here  gave  the  first  interpretation 
of  the  Church  system  under  the  light  of  American 
ideas.  It  is  true  that  many  features  of  the  English 
Church  immediately  disappear  when  the  connection 
with  the  state  ceases,  but  Bishop  White  went  further 
than  this.  He  made  it  manifest  to  his  countrymen 
that  the  Communion  to  which  he  belonged  was  a 
purely  spiritual  body,  and  that  its  only  reason  for  an 
existence  in  this  country  was  based  on  spiritual  grounds. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  the  prejudices  existing 
against  the  American  Church  as  a  part  of  the  English 
Communion,  embittered  by  the  political  animosities  of 
the  Revolution,  were  allayed  so  that  Bishop  White's 
comprehension  of  what  an  American  Episcopal  organ- 
ization ought  to  be  could  be  widely  understood ;  but 
to  one  looking  back  to  the  way  in  which  he  dealt  with 
great  issues  and  accommodated  the  Episcopal  system 
to  the  democratic  ideas  found  in  the  American  gov- 
ernment and  the  thoughts  of  the  people,  it  is  the  mark 


1 84  BISHOP   WHITE. 

of  unusual  independence  of  mind  and  breadth  of  view 
that  Bishop  White  should  from  the  beginning  have  so 
clearly  understood  the  situation,  and  laid  down  funda- 
mental principles  with  a  large  comprehension  of  the 
working  of  a  voluntary  ecclesiastical  body  among  a 
free  people.  He  was  not  the  slave  of  his  prejudices, 
and  he  had  the  wisdom  to  act  with  the  whole  situation 
in  view. 

In  the  organization  of  other  religious  bodies  there 
was  nothing  to  change  when  they  took  shape  in  the 
American  colonies.  They  were  voluntary  bodies,  and 
what  they  were  doctrinally  in  the  old  country  they  were 
here ;  but  when  the  Anglican  Communion  became  an 
affiliated  body  with  the  Mother  Church,  it  was  made  in- 
dependent of  it,  so  that  the  book  of  worship,  the  canons, 
the  government,  and  even  the  constitution,  though  main- 
taining the  same  principles,  were  adapted  to  a  freer  po- 
litical and  social  and  religious  life.  No  estimate  of 
Bishop  White's  life-work  would  be  complete  which  did 
not  recognize  his  loyalty  to  American  ideas  and  his 
equal  loyalty  to  the  religious  body  in  which  he  was 
permitted  to  serve.  It  is  undoubtedly  largely  owing 
to  him  that  the  Episcopal  clergy  and  people  have  al- 
ways agreed  to  keep  political  contentions  out  of  their 
religious  work.  The  question  is  never  asked  whether  a 
man  belongs  to  one  party  or  to  another.  His  loyalty 
to  the  nation  is  taken  for  granted,  and  it  is  believed 
that  this  may  be  honestly  expressed  in  the  dominant 
ideas  which  are  at  the  basis  of  each  political  constitu- 
ency. This  freedom  from  political  connections  did  not 
have  any  influence  in  favour  of  the  Church,  but  it  gave 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  CHURCH  LIFE.       185 

its  pulpit  a  dignity,  and  its  proceedings  and  services  a 
wholesome  character  which  came  to  be  widely  appre- 
ciated, and  which  toward  the  end  of  Bishop  White's 
career  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  its  wider  growth. 

One  of  the  drawbacks  which  he  had  to  contend 
with  was  the  barrenness  and  sterility  of  the  American 
people  in  their  forms  of  worship.  The  stately  ritual 
of  the  Church  of  England  was  very  much  shorn  of 
its  beauty  and  majesty  by  its  limitation  to  a  severe 
simplicity  of  treatment.  This  was  also  in  part  due  to 
the  neglect  of  discipline,  which  was  one  of  the  great 
drawbacks  which  had  to  be  contended  with  in  those 
days,  and  could  only  be  gradually  overcome.  The 
American  ritual  was  cold  and  bare  in  the  light  of  the 
worship  of  to-day,  and  more  people  became  Church- 
men through  their  intellectual  convictions  than  from  a 
sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  worship.  The  very 
simplicity  of  the  Episcopal  service  in  the  years  suc- 
ceeding the  Revolution  afterward  became  a  draw- 
back in  the  spiritual  enjoyment  of  the  services  by 
communicants,  and  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  Bishop 
White  ever  knew  the  full  beauty  of  the  English  ritual 
as  conducted  in  an  American  parish  church.  On 
another  point  Bishop  White  took  a  stand  that  com- 
mended him  to  the  sober  and  candid  judgment  of 
intelligent  people.  He  had  to  assert  himself  against 
the  popular  religious  errors  and  enthusiasms  of  the 
day,  and  to  incur  the  enmity  of  many  good  people 
who  carried  their  ideas  to  extremes,  and  whom  he  did 
not  wish  to  offend.  The  pathway  of  a  Bishop  in  those 
days  was  not  a  pathway  of  roses,  and  it  required  all 


1 86  BISHOP   WHITE, 

the  personal  popularity  enjoyed  by  Dr.  White  to  make 
his  position  tolerable  while  he  was  standing  up  for 
social  and  moral  truth  as  he  understood  it.  He  had 
to  educate  and  develop  conservative  opinion  for  the 
country  at  large,  and  it  required  constant  vigilance  in 
one  who  held  the  office  of  Presiding  Bishop  in  the 
United  States  to  give  the  right  tone  to  the  religious 
sentiment  of  the  country.  Not  that  the  influence  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  those  days  was  extensive 
enough  to  make  its  influence  widely  felt  as  a  public 
educator;  but  to  the  extent  of  his  ability  and  op- 
portunity Bishop  White  stood  on  the  wholesome  and 
right  side  of  all  the  great  issues  of  the  day.  He 
never  allowed  the  man  to  be  overcome  by  the  ec- 
clesiastic. 

The  personal  life  and  the  public  career  of  such  a 
leader  are  always  inextricably  blended;  and  Bishop 
White  was  so  large  a  figure  in  ecclesiastical  affairs  in 
the  later  years  of  the  last  and  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  present  century,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  see 
or  think  of  him  apart  from  his  public  duties.  He  was 
a  leader  whose  influence  was  universally  felt,  though  he 
did  not  often  put  himself  forward  in  a  public  capacity 
outside  of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  He  was  rather  the 
power  behind  the  throne  than  a  visible  functionary. 
He  never  sought  to  attract  attention  to  himself  on  ac- 
count of  his  office,  and  this  caused  him  to  be  all  the 
better  appreciated  where  the  importance  of  his  office 
was  understood.  In  those  earlier  days  patience  was  a 
virtue  to  be  valued,  and  it  must  have  seemed  to  Bishop 
White  as  it  did  to  some  of  the  Jewish  prophets  that 


A   HALF  CENTURY  OF  CHURCH  LIFE.       187 

he  would  never  see  the  vision  of  the  Lord  in  his 
day.  The  virtue  in  his  patience  was  that  he  never 
despaired  ;  he  made  the  most  of  such  opportunities  as 
came  to  him,  and  especially,  utilized  the  abiUties  of  the 
bright  men  who  were  under  his  influence,  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  kind  of  work  which  was  most  important 
for  the  interests  of  the  Church.  Though  a  diocesan 
Bishop  simply,  he  was  also  the  pastor  of  the  whole 
Church;  he  did  not  feel  satisfied  until  he  had  done 
something  to  advance  domestic  as  well  as  foreign 
missions,  and  his  mind  and  heart  went  out  to  the 
country  at  large  and  to  the  whole  world. 

It  was  a  notable  event  w^hen  in  181 1  Bishop  White, 
as  Presiding  Bishop,  consecrated  two  men  in  the  prime 
of  life  who  were  to  be  associated  with  him  in  the 
active  development  of  the  Church  in  the  next  genera- 
tion,—  Dr.  John  Henry  Hobart  and  Dr.  Alexander 
Viets  Griswold.  They  were  men  utterly  unlike  in  tem- 
perament, in  intellect,  and  in  their  way  of  looking  at 
things,  but  each  had  the  natural  qualities  of  leader- 
ship. Dr.  Hobart  was  consecrated  for  the  diocese  of 
New  York,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  when  the  first 
demand  was  felt  for  an  advance  in  American  Church- 
manship.  He  had  the  instincts  of  a  great  Churchman, 
and  his  distinction  was  that  he  founded  institutions 
and  insisted  upon  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical 
principles  which  were  in  accordance  with  his  own 
Communion.  He  was  a  worker  rather  than  a  scholar, 
and  excelled  in  the  preparation  of  manuals  of  Chris- 
tian teaching  which  have  been  largely  instrumental  in 
educating  two  generations   of  American  Churchmen. 


1 88  BISHOP   WHITE. 

While  he  stood  faithfully  by  Bishop  White,  he  was  evi- 
dently a  better  Churchman  than  his  teacher,  who 
greatly  admired  the  way  in  which  he  lifted  the  religious 
system  of  the  Church  to  a  higher  plane  than  that  to 
which  he  was  able  to  raise  it  in  the  different  religious 
atmosphere  of  Philadelphia.  Bishop  Hobart  made 
himself  felt  aggressively,  and  was  the  first  American 
ecclesiastic  to  engage  the  Presbyterians  in  controversy 
over  the  authority  of  the  ministry.  He  was  the  highest 
Churchman  then  known  in  the  United  States. 

Dr.  Griswold,  as  Bishop  of  the  Eastern  diocese,  was 
as  well  fitted  for  his  very  different  field  as  Dr.  Hobart 
was  for  the  New  York  diocese.  He  had  to  encounter 
a  more  bitter  and  more  determined  opposition  to  the 
Episcopacy  than  existed  anywhere  else  in  the  country, 
but  he  met  it  with  the  mildness  and  gentleness  of 
spirit  which  gave  Bishop  White  a  large  part  of  his 
power  in  Pennsylvania.  His  strength  was  mainly  to 
sit  still  and  wait  for  time  to  change  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  He  had  to  break  down  the  traditional  preju- 
dice of  New  England  against  Episcopacy,  and  his 
chief  work  was  to  make  an  impression  for  the  Church 
on  its  spiritual  side.  His  Episcopate  of  over  thirty 
years  was  an  unwearied  effort  to  do  what  he  was  not 
able  to  do ;  and  yet  his  life-work  carried  a  weight  in 
New  England  in  Christian  wisdom  and  sagacity  that 
has  been  felt  down  to  our  own  time,  and  probably  did 
more  to  bring  the  Episcopal  Church  into  its  present 
favour  in  New  England  than  any  other  influence  exerted 
during  his  generation.  These  two  men  illustrated  dif- 
ferent types  of  leadership,  and  pointed  out  how  differ- 


A   HALF  CENTURY  OF  CHURCH  LIFE.       189 

ent  schools  of  thought  were  allowed  recognition  and 
toleration.  Dr.  Hobart  was  an  advanced  man;  Dr. 
Griswold  was  a  mild  Evangelical ;  and  yet  both  stood 
upon  the  same  basis  of  essential  principles. 

It  is  no  injustice  to  others  to  ascribe  the  widening 
out  of  the  Episcopal  Church  during  the  first  quarter  of 
this  century  largely  to  the  oversight  and  rare  wisdom  of 
Bishop  White.     Never  from  the  moment  of  his  conse- 
cration was  he  allowed  to  stand  strictly  in  the  position 
of  a  diocesan  Bishop.     He  was  the  representative  man 
in  the  General  Convention,  in  conferences,  in  consulta- 
tions with  the  Bishops;   and  the  ecclesiastical  policy 
adopted  in  all  these  years  was  largely  the  result  of  his 
suggestions  and  advice.     To  appreciate  the  full  extent 
of  his  work  one  must  study  carefully  his  "  Memoirs  of 
the  Church  "  and  enter  into  a  knowledge  of  his  per- 
sonal life.     He  constantly  held  the  post  of  responsi- 
bility.    In  fact,  he  was  discharging  the  duties  of  three 
men  at  one  and  the  same  time.     He  was  the  rector  of 
the  largest  parish  in  his  diocese.     He  was  responsible 
for  the  whole  of  Pennsylvania.     He  was  also  the  Pa- 
triarch of  the  American  Church.     After  his  judgment 
and  experience,  his  genuine  gift  of  statesmanship  was 
of  great  service.     One  notes  in  examining  his  private 
papers  the  care  with  which  he  attended  to  the  duties 
of  the  office  of  Presiding  Bishop,  and  sees  in  him, 
though  advanced  in  years,  a  man  whose   thought  and 
spirit  expanded  as  the  Church  widened  its  scope  and 
influence.      The   questions  which   have  arisen  in  the 
half  century  since  his  death  were  mostly  anticipated 
during  his  own  lifetime. 


190  BISHOP    WHITE. 

There  is  always  a  close  relation  between  an  institu- 
tion and  the  man  who  is  so  identified  with  it  that  in  his 
generation  he  represents  a  large  part  of  it.  It  is  im- 
possible to  think  of  Methodism  without  bringing  John 
Wesley  into  view,  and  even  at  the  distance  of  a  cen- 
tury from  his  death  the  working  habits  of  the  Methodist 
body  bear  the  impress  of  his  plain  living  and  high 
thinking.  The  same  is  true  of  the  relation  in  which 
Bishop  White  stands  to  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States.  As  in  the  case  of  Wesley,  he  is  less 
quoted  or  referred  to  than  formerly ;  but  the  religious 
historian  is  able  to  trace  his  guiding  hand  and  con- 
trolling thought,  not  only  in  his  Pastoral  Letters,  but  in 
the  living  for  breadth  and  Catholicity  which  have  been 
the  watchwords  of  the  American  Church  from  the  be- 
ginning. He  had  the  largeness  of  mind  which  is  able 
to  decide  correctly  what  shall  be  done  at  critical  times, 
and  yet  he  was  not  a  conventional  nor  an  easily-yield- 
ing man.  He  was  always  looking  out  for  the  larger 
Church,  the  larger  field,  the  larger  opportunity.  The 
same  readiness  to  meet  an  emergency  which  charac- 
terized him  in  the  years  that  followed  the  Revolution 
was  natural  to  him  through  life.  He  had  the  ability  to 
see  special  occasions  in  the  light  of  universal  princi- 
ples, and  his  action,  though  conservative,  was  never 
unintelligent.  It  was  of  the  greatest  value,  that  one 
mind,  and  that  a  mind  of  singular  breadth  and  fair- 
ness, should  have  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  begin- 
nings of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  this  country.  The 
opportunities  were  many  in  which  a  rash  leader  might 
have  ruined  it,  but  no  unwise  step  has  been  traced  to 


A   HALF  CENTURY  OF  CHURCH  LIFE.       191 

Bishop  White,  and  his  advances  were  so  carefully  and 
shrewdly  planned  that  few  things  went  wrong. 

It  was  inevitable  from  the  nature  of  its  beginning 
that  the  Episcopal  Church  should  have  a  hard  struggle 
to  establish  itself  in  this  country,  and  to  develop  into 
the  proportions  of  a  large  and  aggressive  body.  It 
was  long  in  presenting  itself  in  a  winning  attitude  to 
the  nation,  and  its  history  had  been  one  in  which  the 
changes  made  in  the  Church  of  England  have  mostly 
been  repeated  with  variations  on  American  soil.  Bishop 
White's  distinct  achievement  was  that  he  helped  greatly 
to  establish  the  Church  on  a  thoroughly  American  basis, 
and  that  he  did  not  think  it  should  be  a  solemn  echo 
of  the  English  body.  He  did  not  wish  it  different  in 
its  main  principles,  but  he  had  no  desire  to  accept 
things  simply  because  they  were  done  in  England.  A 
powerful  influence  was  exerted  by  him  in  insisting  that 
the  American  Communion  should  be  as  distinct  in  its 
characteristic  Hnes  of  operation  as  it  could  be  and 
still  be  under  the  control  of  the  same  principles.  He 
stood  for  ecclesiastical  flexibility.  Under  him  the 
Church  followed  an  American  spirit  and  method. 
He  was  perhaps  the  most  comprehensive  of  all  our 
ecclesiastical  leaders,  and  the  bishops  who  have  chiefly 
left  their  mark  in  the  enlarged  life  of  the  Church 
have  worked  essentially  upon  the  lines  which  he  laid 
down.  They  have  stood  for  the  whole  organization, 
with  the  belief  that  liberty  under  law  should  be  the 
rule  of  healthy  growth.  The  five  bishops  who  were 
consecrated  by  him  in  1832  and  1835 — the  third 
generation  who  represent  the  shaping  influence  of  this 


192  BISHOP   WHITE. 

venerable  leader  —  were  men  who  in  critical  times  had 
the  same  care  for  the  corporate  life  of  the  Church 
which  he  manifested,  and  they  presented  it  to  our  own 
generation  under  the  lead  of  the  principles  which  Bishop 
White  guarded  and  protected  as  long  as  he  lived. 


APPENDIX 


The  following  statement,  made  by  the  great-grandson 
of  Bishop  White,  shows  the  reverent  care  which  the 
family  have  given  to  his  remains,  and  has  a  personal  in- 
terest, in  connection  with  his  biography.  It  is  furnished 
by  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Montgomery :  — 

Philadelphia,  St.  Barnabas'  Day,  June  ii,  1870. 

In  digging  for  the  foundation  walls  of  the  new  Parish 
Building,  at  Christ  Church,  it  became  necessary  to  take 
down  the  western  wall  of  the  family  vault  of  Robert  Mor- 
ris and  the  Rt  Rev.  William  WHiite,  D.D,  An  inspection 
of  the  vault,  on  a  previous  occasion,  showed  that  several 
of  the  cases  needed  care.  Twenty-five  years  ago  new 
cedar  cases  had  been  provided  for  all  the  cofiins  which  re- 
quired them  ;  but  an  examination  at  this  time  showed  the 
necessity  of  again  resorting  to  the  same  means  of  protec- 
tion. Accordingly,  in  company  with  my  cousin,  Thomas 
H.  Montgomery,  the  work  was  this  day  completed,  and 
with  all  the  care  which  love  and  reverence  could  sugfsest. 

A  few  memoranda  of  what  we  witnessed  and  of  what 
was  done  are  here  recorded.  The  remains  of  mv  sisters, 
—  to  wit,  Mary  H.  Bronson  and  Mrs.  H.  A.  Miller, — 
together  with  those  of  two  of  my  nephews,  viz.,  William 
White  and  Alfred  A.  Miller,  were  deposited  in  a  new  case, 
with  the  plates  tacked  upon  the  lid.  The  remains  of  my 
father  and  mother,  Enos  and  Marj-  Bronson,  —  and  of  a 

13 


^94  APPENDIX. 

very  small  child,  probably  Bird  Wilson  Bronson,  were 
placed  together  in  a  new  case  and  designated  as  above. 
Those  of  Uncle  and  Aunt  Morris  were  placed  together  in 
a  new  case.  Those  of  Caroline,  wife  of  Robert  Mor- 
ris, M.D.,  were  placed  in  a  new  case  ;  and  in  the  same  a 
few  loose  bones  of  an  adult,  which  could  not  be  identified. 
The  same  is  to  be  said  of  Aunt  Macpherson  and  of  Grand- 
papa ;  each  was  placed  in  a  separate  case  and  marked. 
The  remains  of  Aunt  White,  wife  of  Thomas  H.  White; 
also  of  William,  son  of  Grandpapa;  also  of  A.  H. 
and  Charles  Eugene,  sons  of  George  H.  White;  also 
George  Brinton,  son  of  William  White,  Jr., —  were  put 
into  a  new  case  and  marked.  Lastly,  the  remains  of 
Miss  Lewis,  great-granddaughter  of  Mrs.  Gen.  Wash- 
ington, were  recased.  In  all  eight  new  cases  were  pro- 
vided. No  other  cases  were  touched,  they  not  requiring 
removal  as  yet.  The  entire  skeletons  of  my  sister,  Mrs. 
Miller,  and  of  her  son  William,  were  in  an  admirable  state 
of  preservation.  The  head  of  my  mother  was  covered 
with  hair,  —  a  portion  of  which  I  preserved, — but  the 
bones  of  the  head  had  crumbled.  Hair  was  also  distinctly 
recognizable  about  the  head  of  Robert  Morris,  a  small 
portion  of  which  was  preserved.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  crumbling  skull  of  Grandpapa,  a  few  hairs  of  which 
were  preserved  by  Thomas  H.  Montgomery. 

The  entire  skeleton  of  Grandpapa  could  be  distinctly 
traced,  the  continuity  of  the  extended  body,  even  to  the 
fingers,  being  undisturbed  ;  the  bones  of  the  head  alone 
crumbling.  The  velvet  cap,  in  which  the  head  had  reposed, 
was  entire,  the  texture  apparently  as  firm  as  it  had  ever 
been.  And  the  Episcopal  robes,  all  save  the  lawn,  lay  in 
graceful  folds,  as  when  the  body  was  originally  prepared  for 
burial.  The  colour  had  changed  to  a  brownish  hue,  but  the 
texture  appeared  to  be  perfect,  having  lost  none  of  its 
strength.     I  preserved  a  small  piece  of  the  stole,  and  also 


APPENDIX.  195 

removed,  and  now  have,  the  silver  plate  which  had  fallen 
in  with  the  lid  of  the  coffin  upon  the  remains.  This  plate, 
heavily  gilded,  and  almost  free  from  tarnish,  was  inscribed 
as  follows :  — 

Rt.  Rev.  William  White,  D  D., 

Bishop  of  the  Prot.  Epis.  Church  of  the 

Diocese  of  Penn^, 

Died  July  17th,  1S36, 

Aged  8S  Yrs.  3  Months,  &  13  Days. 

It  was  deemed  proper  to  secure  this  plate  for  use  upon  a 
new  coffin  when  provided. 

To  the  best  of  my  recollection,  the  above  embraces  all 
that  need  be  recorded  of  this  painful,  yet  sacred  work,  in 
the  care  of  the  bodies  of  God's  Saints. 

William  White  Broxson. 

I  fully  concur  in  the  account  given  above  by  my  cousin. 

Thomas  H,  Montgomery. 


INDEX. 


Alexandria  Theological  Semi- 
nary, origin  of,  119,  120. 

Chase,  Philander,  Bishop,  p.  99,  his 

career,    110-113;   work   in   Ohio, 

122,  123. 
Christ  Church  Parish,  origin  of,  25  ; 

reference    to    it   as   his   rehgious 

home,  179. 
Church  in  the  Revolution,  32-34. 
Churchman,   Low,  origin  of  name, 

126-129;  end  of  the  party,  134. 
College  of  Philadelphia,  changed  to 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  35. 

De    Lancey,    Rev.    W.    H.,    his 

pamphlets  in  behalf  of  Bishop 
White,  131,  132. 
Duche,  Rev.  Mr.,  his  rectorship  of 
Christ  Church,  18;  his  mystical 
studies,  19;  forced  to  go  to  Eng- 
land, 32;  his  return,  35. 

Eastern   Diocese,  why  formed, 

113- 

Episcopal   Church  in  America,  first 

steps  in  organizing  of,  41-44;  or- 
ganizing in  Connecticut,  44;  dif- 
ferent influences  controlling  it  in 
the  country,  47  ;  laity  admitted  to 
the  legislative  body,  49,  61  ;  feeble- 
ness of,  after  the  Revolution,  90- 
92  ;  first  signs  of  strength,  99, 100  ; 
growth  in  New  England,  116,  117; 
dates  of  first  organization  in  new 
dioceses,  124. 


General  Theological  Semi- 
nary, origin  of,  118,  119. 

Goldsmith,  OUver,  met  by  Mr. 
White  in  London,  23,  24. 

Green,  William  Mercer,  Bishop,  fare- 
well to  Convention  of  1883,  125. 

Griswold,  Alexander  Viets,  Bishop, 
99 ;    sketch  of  his  life  and  work, 

113-117- 

Harrison,  Mary,  wife  of  Bishop 
White,  27  ;  early  death,  27. 

Hobart,  John  Henry,  Bishop,  99; 
sketch  of  his  life  and  work,  107- 

IIO. 

House  of  Bishops,  origin  of,  61-63. 

Ingersoll,  Joseph  R.,  Hon., 
reminiscences  of  Bishop  White, 
1 46-1 51. 

Johnson,  Samuel,  Dr.,  meets  Mr. 
White  in  England,  22. 

Kemper,  Jackson,  Bishop,  99 ; 
under  Bishop  White's  direction, 
and  as  missionary  bishop  of  the 
Northwest,   1 01-103. 

Madison,  James,  Bishop,  92  ;  ad- 
vises union  with  Methodists,  95. 

Methodists,  American,  efforts  at 
union  with  the  Church  made  by 
Dr.  Coke,  93-95  ;  causes  of  fail- 
ure, 96,  97. 


198 


INDEX. 


Missions  in  the  Church,  home  and 

foreign,  120-122. 
Muhlenberg,  William  A.,  99;  sketch 

of  his  career,  103-107. 

Onderdonk,  H.  U.,  Bishop,  men- 
tion of,  128  ;  election  to  the  Epis- 
copate, 131 ;  reminiscences  of 
Bishop  White,  136-138. 


Party  spirit  in  the  Church,  rise  of, 
126. 

Peters,  Rev.  Dr.,  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  18. 

Philadelphia  as  it  was  after  the  Re- 
volution, 69,  70. 

Potter,  Alonzo,  Bishop,  reminis- 
cences of  Bishop  White,  138-146. 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  or- 
ganized by  Bishop  Carroll  at  the 
same  time,  66-68. 

Seabury,  Samuel,  Bishop,  efforts 
to  obtain  consecration,  45  ;  rela- 
tions to  Bishop  White,  57-60  ;  his 
part  in  the  General  Convention, 
60 ;  contrasted  with  Bishop  White, 
49-51 ;  large  confirmation  class, 
88  ;  bishop  of  all  New  England,  98. 

Smith,  Dr.  William,  his  work  in 
Maryland,  35  ;  author  of  the  In- 
stitution Office,   137. 

Sprague,  Dr.  W.  B.,  reminiscences 
of  Bishop  White,  135,  136. 

Stone,  Dr.  John  S.,  reminiscences 
of  Bishop  White,   152. 

Unitarians  in  New  England,  why 
not  Churchmen,  116,  117;  why 
none  in  Connecticut,  126-129 ; 
reason  of  the  defection  of  King's 
Chapel  to,  160  ;  capture  of  Mas- 
sachusetts by,  167. 


Washington,   George,    President, 
his  intimate  relations  with  Bishop 
White,  70-75. 
White,  origin  of  the  family,  1 1 . 
White,  Thomas,  comes  to  America, 
12  ;  his  son's  estimate  of  him,  13. 
White,    William,    mother    of,    and 
family  origin,   13  ;    son's  opinion 
of,    14;    early   education   of,    15; 
playing  preacher,   16  ;   at  College 
of   Philadelphia,    17;    studies  for 
orders,  20 ;  in  England  to  be  or- 
dained, 21  ;  English  relatives,  22  ; 
meets  Dr.  Johnson  and  Dr.  Gold- 
smith,  23 ;    in  holy   orders,   25 ; 
assistant  minister,  26;    marriage, 
27 ;  first  residence,  28 ;  his  posi- 
tion  in    the    Revolution,    28-30; 
chaplain  of  Continental  Congress, 
30,    31 ;    political    position,    36 ; 
made    Doctor    of    Divinity,    36; 
"  Case  of  the  Episcopal  Churches 
Considered,"  37-40;  treatment  by 
Connecticut  Churchmen,  46  ;  con- 
trast between  him  and  Bishop  Sea- 
bury,   46 ;    aim  to   organize   the 
Church  properly,  51;  sagacity  of 
in  obtaining  consent  of  American 
Government   to    the   Episcopate, 
52;  elected  Bishop,  53;  his  work 
as  a  leader  so  far,  54-56 ;  trip  to 
England    for     consecration,     57; 
part  in  first  Episcopal  Consecra- 
tion, 61  ;    Presiding  Bishop,  62  ; 
his  work  contrasted  with  that  of 
Bishop  Carroll,  66-68;    relations 
with  General  Washington,  70-75; 
personal  portrait  of  the  man,  77- 
87 ;  confirms  his  wife  and  children, 
87  ;  other  confirmations,  88 ;  cost 
of  his  consecration   in   England, 
92;    position    as    a    Churchman, 
127:    address  to  Convention   be- 
fore electing  an  Assistant  Bishop, 
128-130  ;  insulted  in  his  Conven- 


INDEX. 


199 


tion,  132 ;  reminiscences,  135-152 ; 
dislike  to  be  honoured,  152;  his 
study  and  Hbrary  habits,  153-155  ; 

-162  ; 


writings, 


^33 


his  various 
method  witli  candidates  for  orders, 
162  ;  public  feeling  toward  him  in 
Philadelphia,  164  ;  bishops  con- 
secrated by  him,  in  1832,  166;  his 
last  days,  168  ;  details  of  his  ill- 


ness, 169-174;  funeral,  175; 
value  of  his  "Case  of  Episcopal 
Churches  Considered,"  183  ;  his 
difficulties,  184-186;  how  his  in- 
fluence was  felt,  186 ;  compared 
with  Hobart  and  Griswold,  187- 
1S9;  representative  Churchman, 
189-192;  reinterment  of  his  re- 
mains, 193. 


MAKERS  OF  AMERICA. 


The  followi7ig  is  a  list  of  the  subjects  and  authors  so 
far  arranged  for  i?i  this  series.     The  volumes  will 
be  published  at  the  uniform  price  of  %1.00,  and 
will  appear  in  rapid  succession :  — 

Christopher  Columbus  (1436-1506),  and  the  Discov- 
ery of  the  New  World.  By  Charles  Kendall 
Adams,  President  of  Cornell  University. 

John  Winthrop  (1588- 1649),  First  Governor  of 
the   Massachusetts   Colony.     By  Rev.   Joseph   H. 

TWICHELL. 

Robert  Morris  (i 734-1 806),  Superintendent  of  Finance 
under  the  Continental  Congress.  By  Prof.  William 
G.  Sumner,  of  Yale  University. 

James  Edward  Oglethorpe  (1689-1785),  and  the  Found- 
ing of  the  Georgia  Colony.  By  Henry  Bruce, 
Esq. 

John  Hughes,  D.D.  (1797-1864),  First  Archbishop  of 
New -York  :  a  Representative  American  Catholic. 
By  Henry  A.  Brann,  D.D. 

Robert  Fulton  (i 765-181 5);  His  Life  and  its  Results. 
By  Prof.  R.  H.  Thurston,  of  Cornell  University. 


2  MAKERS    OF  AMERICA. 

Francis  Higginson  (1587- 1630),  Puritan,  Author  of 
"  New  England's  Plantation,"  etc.  By  Thomas  W. 
Higginson. 

Peter  Stuyvesant  (i 602-1 682),  and  the  Dutch  Settle- 
ment of  New- York.  By  Bayard  Tuckerman, 
Esq.,  author  of  a  "  Life  of  General  Lafayette, " 
editor  of  the  "  Diary  of  Philip  Hone,"  etc.,  etc. 

Thomas  Hooker  (i 586-1 647),  Theologian,  Founder  of 
the  Hartford  Colony.  By  George  L.  Walker, 
D.D. 

Charles  Sumner  (1811-1874),  Statesman.  By  Anna 
L.  Dawes. 

Thomas  Jefferson  (1743-1826),  Third  President  of  the 
United  States.  By  James  Schouler,  Esq.,  author 
of  "A  History  of  the  United  States  under  the 
Constitution." 

"William  "White  (i 748-1 836),  Chaplain  of  the  Continen- 
tal Congress,  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania,  President  of 
the  Convention  to  organize  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  America.  By  Rev.  Julius  H.  Ward, 
with  an  Introduction  by  Right  Rev.  Henry  C.  Potter, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  New- York. 

Jean  Baptiste  Lemoine,  sieur  dit  Bienville  (1680-1 768), 
French  Governor  of  Louisiana,  Founder  of  New 
Orleans.  By  Grace  King,  author  of  "  Monsieur 
Motte." 

Alexander  Hamilton  (i 757-1 804),  Statesman,  Finan- 
cier, Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  By  Prof.  William 
G.  Sumner,  of  Yale  University. 

Cotton  Mather  (1663-1728),  Theologian,  Author,  Be- 
liever in  Witchcraft  and  the  Supernatural.  By  Prof. 
Barrett  Wendell,  of  Harvard  University. 


MAKERS    OF  AMERICA,  3 

Robert  Cavelier,  sieur  de  La  Salle  (1643-1687),  Ex- 
plorer of  the  Northwest  and  the  IVIississippi.  By 
Edward  G.  Mason,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Histori- 
cal Society  of  Chicago,  author  of  "  Illinois"  in  the 
Commonwealth  Series. 

Thomas  Nelson  (i 738-1 789),  Governor  of  Virginia, 
General  in  the  Revolutionary  Army.  Embracing  a 
Picture  of  Virginian  Colonial  Life.  By  Thomas 
Nelson  Page,  author  of  "Mars  Chan,"  and  other 
popular  stories. 

George  and  Cecilius  Calvert,  Barons  Baltimore  of 
Baltimore  (1605-1676),  and  the  Founding  of  the 
Maryland  Colony.  By  William  Hand  Browne, 
editor  of  "The  Archives  of  Maryland.' 

Sir  "William  Johnson  (17 15-1774),  and  The  Six  Na- 
tions. By  William  Elliot  Griffis,  D.D.,  author 
of  "The  Mikado's  Empire,"  etc.,  etc. 

Sam.  Houston  (1793- 1862),  and  the  Annexation  of 
Texas.     By  Henry  Bruce,  Esq. 

Joseph  Henry,  LL.D.  (i  797-1 878),  Savant  and  Natural 
Philosopher.     By  Frederic  H    Betts,  Esq. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  By  Prof.  Herman  Grimm, 
author  of  "  The  Life  of  Michael  Angelo,"  "  The  Life 
and  Times  of  Goethe,"'  etc. 

DODD,   MEAD,   &   COMPANY, 

753  and  755  Broadway,  New   York. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED   FOR   FAILURE  TO   RETURN 
THIS   BOOK   ON   THE   DATE   DUE.   THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY    AND    TO    $1.00    ON    THE    SEVENTH     DAY 
OVERDUE. 

JUL          1944 

....  ,  ,,  f. 

- 

RECDLD    MAR    i 

)h'im   ;  1 

LD  21-100m-7,*40  (6936s) 

YB  33812 


101850 


